Group Offers Revised Plan for Arts Park in Sepulveda Basin

Having weathered years of controversy, legal action and bureaucratic procedure, a group of San Fernando Valley businessmen and arts patrons has resurfaced with a modified plan to build a cultural center in the Sepulveda basin.

The newest version of Arts Park L.A. would feature an 1,800-seat theater, a children’s art center and a cluster of galleries and workshops set amid the greenery bordering Lake Balboa, an official from the Cultural Foundation said.

At roughly half the size of the original proposal announced 20 years ago, the project--whose cost has yet to be determined--no longer includes a 500-seat theater, a natural history museum or a media center.

“People would love to have Arts Park,” said Ross Hopkins, the foundation’s executive director. “But we decided to downsize the project to make it more politically acceptable.”

This is not the first time the complex has been scaled back. In response to a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club and a series of contentious public meetings, the foundation had previously shaved from its plans an outdoor amphitheater, a performance glen and lakeside snack bars.

The current 42-acre proposal comes amid a new round of meetings between the foundation and the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks, one of several city and federal agencies that control the basin. Hopkins has been querying officials in hopes of responding to their concerns about Arts Park.