Park Hailed as 1st Step to Beautify River

They came to a little patch of green Thursday, hoping it marked the beginning of what now seems an almost impossible task--the beautification of the concrete-encased Los Angeles River.

The greenery was the new Elysian Valley Gateway Park--just a third of an acre next to the river--that was portrayed in dedication speeches Thursday as the first step in transforming the 51-mile-long river into a scenic, recreational corridor.

About 50 people gathered at the end of a small street in Elysian Valley, across from an engine remanufacturing shop, for the dedication of the park, the first stage of what has been dubbed the Los Angeles River Greenway.

“We made something of beauty out of something that was blight,” said City Councilman Mike Hernandez, whose district is next to the park. “It is a rose in the middle of a garden that still has a lot of weeds and debris.”

The little park, on which two abandoned homes had stood, is the centerpiece of a crowded Los Angeles neighborhood north of Downtown. Small stucco homes with barred windows sit next to light industrial buildings.

A row of 21 train engines sat in a railway yard across the river from the park Thursday, while high voltage electrical lines marched down the path of the river. Gang names were spray-painted on nearby cinder-block walls, which had rusted lines of barbed wire atop them.

The site in the Elysian Valley area was chosen for the first park because it is one of the few places along the river where the bottom is not concrete, said Esther Feldman of the Trust for Public Land, which helped arrange the purchase of the land.

She pointed to the trees and bushes that have grown on the river bottom and described them as places filled with bird and other animal life.

Plans call for small “pocket parks” where people can stop while walking or cycling along the river, she said.

“The real idea is that there will one day be a corridor of parks and trails running the entire 51 miles of the Los Angeles River,” she said. “We hope a number of these parks begin to connect up.”

A few people from the neighborhood joined members of various environmental groups for the dedication.

Isabel Aceves, who lives nearby, said the park will be a safe place for her son to rest while he bikes along the river. Larry Casas, who lives across the street from the park, said it would be good for the neighborhood children. But he did have some concerns.

“I just hope they don’t paint on the walls and have kids come down here and smoke their pot and drink their beer at night,” he said.

And, looking around, he said there was one thing missing from the park.

“I’d sure like to see some swings out here,” he said.