STUDIO CITY : Delays Dog Improvements at Tiny Park

What began in August as a 90-day project to spruce up tiny Laurel Canyon Park has burgeoned into a muddy mess of a problem for the city parks department.

Delays caused by a contractor’s financial problems and then compounded by storms have left the park in a state of disrepair five months after the project, initially budgeted at $122,000, began.

Members of Park Watch, a group of local residents who fought to preserve the site’s natural setting, are frustrated by the delays. They also question the scope of the project, which includes a new curb, water fountain, four-foot-high fence around the park’s perimeter, concrete steps and several signs.

“I don’t understand this, I just don’t understand any of this,” said Jane Purse, 82, who lives in Hollywood Hills. She has fought city efforts to develop the park since 1981. “They’re putting things in there that nobody ever asked for, and they’ve totally botched the job. It’s a complete waste.”

Parks officials acknowledge the problems caused by the delay and say they’ve warned the contractor--Travers Construction Inc. of Port Hueneme--that if they can’t finish the work within the next several weeks, the city will hire a new firm to finish the job.

“What happened is that the contractor had a cash-flow problem,” said Jim Andervich, assistant general manager for the Department of Recreation and Parks. “We put them on notice that they’re behind schedule, and they’ve been working triple shifts to catch up. The rain has not helped.”

Work was scheduled to be finished by November, officials said. But as of this week, less than half the project had been completed.

The delay has only compounded the irritation of residents who said their input on the improvements was ignored.

“They really didn’t take us into consideration or ask us what should be addressed in the park,” said Bryan Greenberg, 44, also of Hollywood Hills, who takes his dogs to the park regularly. “Imagine going to a park you use everyday and seeing a bunch of muddy trenches dug all over the place.”

“When will it be normal again?” he added. “Right now, it looks like some kind of experiment.”

Ann T. Collins, president of Travers Construction Inc., said work should be finished within the next two or three weeks, unless rain storms cause further delays.