A Towering Symbol of Hope in Watts : Renewal: Landmark artwork is at the center of a plan to turn 10 acres into a park and cultural mecca that would encourage tourists to stay longer.

The Watts Towers, a graceful network of arching towers and gleaming spires that draws visitors from throughout the world, have suffered the same sad fate of abuse and neglect as the community that surrounds them. But after decades of failed projects and abandoned promises, there is a plan that could showcase the towers and serve as a catalyst to revitalize the community.

Planners and architects hope to transform a curving 10-acre strip of weed-choked lots, anchored by the towers at one end, into a beautifully landscaped park with the possibility of gift shops, restaurant, theater for performing arts, artist studios, galleries and other uses. This “cultural crescent,” as it is being touted, could lure more tourists, encourage them to linger in the area and serve as a catalyst for rebuilding surrounding neighborhoods, residents say.

“For too long the perception of Watts has been very different from the reality of Watts,” said Clinton Minnis, chairman of the Watts Cultural Crescent Advisory Committee, an organization of residents. “If this community is ever going to move forward, we need to be able to change all those negatives attitudes about Watts. Now, we may finally have a way to do that.”

For years, community activists have unsuccessfully sought to revitalize the area around the towers. But recently, the Community Redevelopment Agency purchased about five acres of land near the towers, and, with another five acres owned by other government agencies, the CRA controls enough land to put together a development plan.

The cultural crescent will be on a winding strip of land, much of it on a vacant Southern Pacific railway corridor. It does not look like much now--just empty lots filled with rusting bedsprings and sofas, and gravel-filled strips of land surrounded by chain-link fences. But its supporters envision landscaped promenades, bike paths, open markets in plazas and a number of businesses.

This blueprint for the area’s development--being drafted at a cost of $175,000 by the architecture and planning firm Renaissance II--is expected to be completed in about nine months. The consultants have been holding community meetings to determine what kind of uses residents want and will support.

The project’s cost has not been determined, but the plan will include a number of financing proposals--from private investment to grants from the city, local art donors and national foundations. The consultants also are hoping to work with the Watts Credit Union, a local financial institution, to provide loans for investors.

But it is an onerous task to develop property in a neighborhood long abandoned by the business community, banks and thousands of middle-class families--a neighborhood that does not have a single sit-down restaurant or movie theater. The project also must contend with the recession and city budget shortages. And to attract enough visitors, concerns about security will have to be allayed.

Another fear is that the slow pace of the tower’s renovation will hamper the success of the project. The renovation is years from completion, the towers are only open part time and scaffolding covers several spires.

Still, the towers, a national historic monument, remain a tremendous tourist draw, attracting more than 50,000 people a year. And in the wake of the riots, corporations and nonprofit foundations have shown more interest in investing in the inner city.

Supporters of the project also note that the site will be more accessible because of the Blue Line transit system and the scheduled 1993 opening of the Century Freeway. Although there were serious concerns about safety on the Blue Line, which bisects South-Central Los Angeles, the crime rate has been negligible as a result of the highly visible presence of sheriff’s deputies and security guards.

City officials are optimistic, citing signs of progress in the area. At a nearby intersection--near the recently renovated Watts train station used as a Blue Line stop--there is a proposed CRA project that includes a new library, an 18,000-square-foot commercial development and the first sit-down restaurant in Watts. At the other end of the property, near the towers, is the Santa Ana Pines, the first commercial single-family subdivision to be built in Watts since World War II.

Thad Williams, a partner in the Santa Ana Pines project, said the potential of the cultural crescent has been a selling point for potential home buyers.

“I think this could change the whole dynamic of the area,” he said. “I think it will make it a more desirable place to live and bring in a lot more investment. And with the Blue Line taking thousands of people by the property every day and some of the development already going on, I think it could attract more private investors to Watts.”

The towers were created over a 33-year span by Sabato Rodia, an unschooled Italian immigrant who used primitive tools to create an artwork of international renown. In a neighborhood with little vegetation, dominated by drab bungalows, empty lots and graffiti-scarred walls, the towers are a wildly dramatic presence.

Brightly colored and whimsically designed, the three major towers and six smaller ones are encrusted with broken pieces of china, seashells, edges of Spanish tile, glass shards from brilliant blue Milk of Magnesia bottles and green 7-Up bottles. Undulating spokes connect the towers, and a wall embedded with a sparkling collage of pottery scraps creates a visual base for the spires.

Break it down, and all you have is junk--the flotsam and jetsam of a disposable society. But as a whole it is a stunning achievement, according to critics, some of whom consider it Los Angeles’ greatest art monument.

Since 1985, the city’s Cultural Affairs Department has been responsible for the towers. The agency has proved “very supportive and interested in renovating the towers,” said Bud Goldstone, an engineering consultant who is working on the towers renovation. But its $163,000 annual budget, he added, is inadequate.

The deterioration of the towers is not simply the fault of the city. At various times, the towers were under the auspices of private owners, a public committee, the state and the city.

But there never have been enough public or private funds to maintain them. Many residents believe that the towers and neighborhoods have been neglected for the same reason--because Watts is a minority community.

“If these towers had been in Glendale or the Westside or other upscale communities, I know damn well they wouldn’t have been treated the way they’ve been treated over the years,” Goldstone said. “It’s pretty obvious.”

Harold Williams of Renaissance II said the long neglect of the towers reflects “a great deal of racism.” If the landscaped park around the La Brea Tar Pits were in South-Central, he said, it would not be so well-maintained.

Complicating the renovation over the years has been a longtime dispute between art enthusiasts, mostly from outside the community, and neighborhood activists. The activists insisted that any project also include plans to aid the community, while the other group wanted to focus on the preservation of the towers.

“I always believed it was selfish and narrow-minded to just focus on the towers and ignore the world outside the tower’s walls,” said Sterling Barnes, head of the city planning department’s South-Central-South East Task Force. “Development around the towers can provide the opportunity for jobs, for a lot of cultural opportunities for the community. . . . It can serve as a catalyst for building up the entire area.”

The view held by Barnes and community activists prevailed with the adoption of the project by the CRA. Now, if the towers are made more accessible to visitors and the neighborhood around the towers is improved, it will create investment opportunities throughout Watts, said Leanne Sowande, an architect with Renaissance II.

A renewed community focus also could help generate more money for the cultural crescent and the towers, said Adolfo Nodal, general manager of the Cultural Affairs Department.

“This is going to be one of the city’s high-priority cultural projects,” Nodal said. “Everyone recognizes this is as a good project. And we really need to develop more major cultural facilities outside of downtown or the Westside . . . and in places like South-Central and East L.A.”

Many Watts residents were initially suspicious about the plan. But last month, at the end of the project’s first community meeting, residents became more receptive. They discussed the kind of uses that they would like to see and the problems they have had attracting business. Most agreed that if the cultural crescent could be developed, and that if potential visitors could be persuaded it is a safe environment, the neighborhood’s image would change.

“The towers have always shown a different aspect of Watts from what’s usually portrayed and we’ve appreciated that,” said Wilma Haynes, who has lived in the shadow of the towers for 31 years. “They’ve always been an inspiration to those of us who see them every day. They show us that you can start with nothing but if you dream and have goals you can create something of great value.”

Showcase for Watts

Planners hope to transform a curving 10-acre strip of land anchored by the Watts Towers at one end into a park with the possibility of gift shops, a restaurant, theaters and other uses. This “cultural crescent,” as it is being touted, could highlight the towers and serve as a catalyst for rebuilding Watts.