A Diamond in the Rough

The scrubby, rolling Ascot Hills reservoir facility is just three miles northeast from the hustle of City Hall, but it is a quiet world away.

Walk the dirt paths on this El Sereno utility property and the possibilities this huge, city-owned parcel holds for park-poor residents east of downtown come into focus, as tantalizing as the scent of eucalyptus and orange blossoms that fill the air there.

For decades, the Department of Water and Power has managed this 140-acre site just off North Soto Street, but it uses only a fraction of it for a reservoir and chlorination equipment. Ascot Hills is zoned for open space and -- with the exception of an abandoned clapboard house, a junked bicycle or two and some construction debris -- the songbirds and lizards have the run of the place.

Local residents and activists see the chance to create a nature park there with postcard views of downtown. City officials, including Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, who represents the area, agree.

The idea is for the city to contract with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, which would improve and manage the property for hiking, outdoor education and picnicking.

Toward that end, this week the city and the conservancy filed a joint application for money from voter-approved Proposition 40. That 2002 state bond measure created a $2.6-billion pot to preserve parkland and waterways. The conservancy estimates it would take $3 million to cut trails, clean up and revegetate portions of the site and build an outdoor classroom, parking and restrooms.

Lawmakers can’t redirect Proposition 40 funds to plug the state’s budget shortfall, although the governor can delay the bond sales to lighten the state’s interest load.

Even if delayed, however, Ascot Hills could welcome its first visitors well before the huge Cornfield and Taylor Yard areas become parks. Those parcels near downtown, once destined for warehouses and light industry, are now safely in state hands.

But as residents of Chinatown and Glassell Park know all too well, it could be years before officials settle on firm plans for those areas and collect the necessary funds to transform weeds, broken glass and bags of trash into soccer fields, playgrounds and community centers. The Ascot Hills park plan is more focused.

That means downtown and Eastside residents could be hiking and watching the setting sun backlight downtown’s skyscrapers from Ascot Hills by the end of next year.