Northeast Valley Revitalization--Just Add Water

For years, flood waters coursing down the Tujunga Wash poured silt into the lake at Hansen Dam.

By 1982, because nobody bothered to dredge the sediment that flowed into the flood plain, the once-huge and popular Holiday Lake had dwindled to nothing but muck. It was closed, leaving only memories of a place where families from throughout Los Angeles had once spent weekends swimming, boating and relaxing.

Without the lake, the area was neglected by most everyone except gang members and transients.

Now, after years of delays and rising costs, steamrollers finally are revving up to build two new Hansen Dam recreational lakes above the flood plain. Many expect construction of the 10 1/2-acre lakes area, currently two large holes in the ground, is expected by many to spark an awakening the area has not seen for years.

Local leaders view the largely underutilized area as vital to long-term economic development in the area. The revitalized park could draw increased business, housing and jobs to hundreds of acres surrounding the more than 1,400-acre Hansen Dam Recreation Area.

“It’s all about potential,” said Lillian Burkenheim, a project manager for the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles. “It will help spur economic development.”

Councilman Richard Alarcon, who represents the area, already is in the early stages of developing a plan that would spin off more business opportunities from the activity the lakes and other projects are expected to bring. Movie theaters and a professional sports complex are on the wish list.

Indeed, the expectations are high, considering the many nagging problems that have plagued the lakes project. Some residents worry that cost overruns and cutbacks will leave them with a project that falls far short of the initial plan loaded with amenities. Proposed water slides and fishing platforms, for example, are gone for now.

“The lakes, they sure have a long history,” said Phyllis Hines, land-use chairwoman for the Lake View Terrace Improvement Assn., a local homeowners group. “We’re hopeful, but cautious.”

The new lakes, which may be ready for use by spring 1999, come long after Holiday Lake closed 15 years ago.

That 120-acre lake, which formed naturally, opened as a city-run recreation area in 1949. There was a boat ramp, and swimming was allowed in a shallow section.

But the lake was in a flood plain that absorbed silt swept down the wash by rain, shrinking it more each year. In addition, it was expensive to maintain. After the lake was closed, the surrounding park lost much of the popularity it enjoyed during the 1950s.

Rep. Howard Berman (D-Mission Hills), who made restoration of the lake a campaign promise during his run for Congress, in the mid-1980s wrote federal legislation that expanded the role of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which owns the land, from flood control to include recreation projects.

By the early 1990s, city and federal efforts, spurred by Berman, were at last underway to create a new 15-acre lake as part of a development plan for the entire Hansen Dam basin.

Along the way, city and federal workers realized that such a large swim area would be extremely difficult to keep clean and that it would cost a bundle to try.

Time and effort went into designing a 13-acre boating and fishing lake and a 2-acre swim lake. That too looked as if it would be difficult to manage and expensive to maintain.

By 1994, plans were for a 9-acre boating and fishing lake and a 1 1/2-acre swimming lake. The Corps of Engineers and the city of Los Angeles agreed to split the $10-million cost.

After excavation finally began in early 1996, more problems arose. Workers miscalculated the availability of dirt needed for embankments, and an endangered bird nested along the site for a while, forcing more delays.

The lengthy process, including redesigns and red tape that at times irked residents, eventually resulted in a funding shortage, causing yet another delay.

Last April, $4.6 million raised through Measure A, a countywide bond issue for parks, was set aside for the project, along with money from the city. The total price tag jumped to more than $14 million. Another six months went by before, in October, the Corps of Engineers signed a $7.6-million contract with Southwest Engineering Inc. of Santa Monica to build the lakes.

“This is an extremely important milestone,” Berman said then. “It takes us one step closer to the day when Valley residents can swim, fish, picnic and relax at Hansen Dam.”

Construction of the lakes is expected to begin around the start of the new year.

Edward Louie, assistant project manager for the corps, said design revisions and other unexpected costs mean that some landscaping, paving and picnic-area furniture may be reduced. Some so-called option items may be added later if funding becomes available, he said.

“They’re more like luxury-type items,” Louie said. “They’d be nice, but certainly not [having them would not be] enough to keep the park closed.”

Louie and Robert Fawcett, a landscape architect for the city, said that safety considerations will not be shortchanged because of budget concerns.

“We very much want to have a functional facility,” Fawcett said. “We’re confident we can get what we need with the money we have available.”

The lakes will be in the northwest section of the Hansen Dam area, off Foothill Boulevard east of Osborne Street, not far from the site where Rodney G. King was beaten by LAPD officers during his March 1991 arrest. Off a ways to the north are the mountains of the Angeles National Forest.

When the work is complete, as many as 4,000 people at a time are expected to crowd into the lakes.

The seasonal swimming lake, which will have filtered, chlorinated water, will be no deeper than about 5 feet. The boating and fishing lake, which is not designed for power boats, will be up to 13 feet deep.

“I know the community wants to see these lakes,” said Gary A. Bond, director of the Hansen Dam Sport Center and Lake View Terrace Recreation Center, while standing in one of the dry lakes. “It’s going to be beautiful once it gets done.”

Bond said the lakes will be a strong addition to the equestrian trails and the sporting events and other activities held on the land.

Many residents credit any progress to Berman. Tom Waldman, a spokesman for the congressman, said that although there are some snags, it seems like the new project will work out.

“We feel pretty confident now that things are moving forward,” Waldman said. “I think it will change [people’s] lives in the area considerably, certainly for the better.”

“They want to see it done,” Waldman said of local residents. “They’re frustrated, understandably, that it’s taken so long. I’m hopeful we’re past that.”

Some residents remain skeptical. They wonder whether the project really will be available for use before the turn of the century or meet their expectations.

“It could be so wonderful,” said Hines of the Lake View Terrace Improvement Assn. “But if it’s not done well, it could bring trouble.”

Eddie Milligan, who runs the Hansen Dam Equestrian Center, said many residents have been less than impressed with the project so far and plan to monitor its progress closely.

“I’m hoping I could help guide them,” Milligan said, referring to project officials. “Private enterprise would have already had it built,” he said.

Alarcon said the area should thrive in the coming years. It is included in a proposed federal empowerment zone for Los Angeles that would provide tax credits for hiring local residents and business incentives for capital investments.

Other projects already in the works include Lake View Terrace’s first public library and an environmental learning center. There are hundreds more undeveloped acres zoned for industrial and commercial use.

By working with city agencies such as the CRA and the Department of Water and Power, which owns about 135 acres adjacent to Hansen Dam, Alarcon hopes to help develop a greater “vision” for the future.

“Creating this type of vision is what this community has needed for a long time,” Alarcon said.