Abandoned Rail Yard to Be Bought for Park

An abandoned downtown railroad yard that had been slated for development as an industrial park is being sold instead for public use as a park, low-cost housing and schools, a national land conservation organization announced Monday.

Larry Kaplan, a spokesman for the nonprofit Trust for Public Land, said his group has signed an option to purchase the 40-acre parcel near Chinatown from the Majestic Realty Co. and Union Pacific railroad for $30 million.

The trust expects the state to repurchase the property near the Los Angeles River for creation of what would be the first sizable state park, open space and recreational complex in Los Angeles.

No commitment has yet been made, but in his January budget, Gov. Gray Davis proposed $70 million in funding for significant river parkway projects. On Monday, his resources secretary, Mary B. Nichols, indicated that the project is the sort of parkland development Davis talking was about.

“This exciting opportunity will convert an abandoned rail yard into a public park, right in the heart of the city,” Nichols said. “It’s a wonderful example of Davis’ urban parks strategy--using state funds to help bring parks to where the people are.”

Kaplan said the purchase agreement apparently ends a lawsuit by Friends of the Los Angeles River and the Chinatown Yards Alliance to block construction of the proposed $80-million industrial park--a project endorsed by Mayor Richard Riordan.

The suit, filed in September, charged that city officials erred in not requiring Majestic, the industrial park’s developer, to perform an environmental impact report on the land.

Three weeks after the suit was filed, Majestic suffered another setback when the Department of Housing and Urban Development said that if an environmental study wasn’t performed, about $12 million in federal loans and grants pledged to the project would be withheld.

The 40-acre parcel, dubbed the Cornfield because corn was grown there during the 19th century, was one of 32 blighted properties earmarked by the city for development. Riordan supported development of the Cornfield as an industrial park, saying that it would create 1,000 jobs.

Majestic suffered a setback when a section of the zanja madre, the irrigation system that carried water to the original pueblo, was unearthed at the site, raising concerns about the destruction of an important piece of early Los Angeles history. However, the Central Area Planning Commission, one of seven new planning panels created to deal with local issues, ruled in favor of Majestic last July, setting the stage for the lawsuit filed in September.