East L.A. Civic Center Becoming a Reality

Drive down 3rd Street through East Los Angeles, and you can’t help but notice Belvedere Park, with its tranquil lake and sloping grass field.

Less eye-catching, however, is the row of county buildings on Fetterly Avenue just outside the southwestern edge of the park. Some buildings have no signs, and confused visitors often circle the block, unsure where to go or where they can park. The nearby library and sheriff’s station in the park are overcrowded, while an old courthouse there has lain mostly vacant for years. Many county departments, like those that provide business permits and housing vouchers, are scattered at other sites in and out of East Los Angeles.

Now county officials are launching a project to transform the park and adjacent block of buildings into a cohesive civic center for the approximately 131,000 residents in the unincorporated East Los Angeles area. By redesigning the area with a campus atmosphere, officials also hope to generate a greater sense of identity for a region that residents complain often feels isolated and disconnected from its own government.

“The creation of these civic centers can help provide what a city hall does in a little town,” said Julie Frederick, administrator of the Edward R. Roybal Comprehensive Health Center, part of a task force working on the project. “People can bring out-of-town guests and show it off. I think it’s good for public morale and feeling of community.”

Many residents have applauded the idea, some adding that they never knew Belvedere Park was supposed to function as a civic center. In fact, when surveyed by the county about the center in September, 65% of East Los Angeles households said they had never been there.

“This area has been underserved, with no real approach to it,” said resident Omar Loya, 29. “A lot of residents don’t know what’s going on, or where to go. There’s no centralized place to go for information.”

The total cost and scope of the project will not be known until a final study is completed next month. Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, who is spearheading the project, has secured so far about $20 million from the county’s general fund to replace the library and to make some other improvements. The state has provided another $400,000 to help build a child-care center on the new campus. But those funds may be a fraction of the total eventually needed.

“It’s so important for any neighborhood to have that civic pride, not to feel out there alone,” Molina said. “I think [residents] are longing for a place where they can go voice their concerns.”

Barrio Planners, an urban design firm hired to study the issue, unveiled three preliminary designs for the new center at a public meeting held recently at Belvedere Park.

All three designs include plans for a new county building, which would house various county departments, as well as a post office and satellite office for the Department of Motor Vehicles. The consultants also suggest tearing down the old courthouse and building a larger library, creating a child-care center and turning Fetterly Avenue into a pedestrian plaza.

“There’s nothing right now to dignify the civic center, to let people know it’s a very special place,” said Raul Escobedo, the urban designer working on the project. “We need something that tells you this is Belvedere Park, this is the heart of East L.A.”

The courthouse, library and sheriff’s station that were built next to the Belvedere Park lake in the early 1960s appear to have been designed originally as a civic center, said Carrie Sutkin, Molina’s field director. However, the more recent buildings were erected on Fetterly, ignoring the early design, resulting in a decentralized and confusing layout. By the 1970s, studies and maps of East L.A. didn’t even mention a civic center in Belvedere Park, Sutkin said.

At the recent public meeting, many residents said they supported the project, adding that they’ve always longed for facilities like those of nearby Montebello and Monterey Park.

“It’s time that the East L.A. area has something we can be proud of,” said resident Diana Tarango as the audience applauded. “It’s time we have a civic center like everyone else. It’s time we have something that belongs to us.”

Longtime Eastside volunteer Elena Valencia said the new center would make life much easier for the seniors who live in the area.

“This is a wonderful thing because they plan to bring all the services under one umbrella,” Valencia said.

Some residents at the meeting expressed concern that the project designs called for moving Soledad Enrichment Action, a 25-year-old program for at-risk youth that operates out of a private building on Fetterly. After hearing those concerns, Molina’s staff said they would find a way to keep the program in the new center.

The project also includes plans for improved amphitheater facilities, a renovation of the shallow lake and a children’s playground. The consultants also have suggested building an underground parking facility and relocating the sheriff’s special enforcement building on the north end of the park, which houses a SWAT team and helicopter pad.

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A Civic Center for East L.A.?

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Los Angeles County officials want to transform the south side of Belvedere Park and nearby county buildings into a cohesive civic center for the East Los Angeles region.