Readers React:  Can the Olympics help the L.A. River?

To the editor: Los Angeles hasn’t yet been granted the 2024 Olympics, and already we are worried that planners are not watching their step? (“Don’t forget the river,” Opinion, Sept. 30) Well, we should be.

Years ago, when I was on the board of FoLAR, the Los Angeles River was looked upon as a storm drain and efforts to revitalize it were laughed at.

Thankfully, today that has changed, and the river is widely considered to be, well, a river. Frank Gehry, no less, is working on an architectural design plan.

The Olympic planners mentioned in the opinion piece are to be commended for including only one new construction project in their preliminary plans.

In 1984, the Los Angeles Olympics Organizing Committee saved millions by housing athletes in existing university dorms. This summer, the Special Olympics here did the same.

We should stick to this successful model and not repurpose a site — Piggyback Yard — that is crucial to the revitalization of our river.

Bob Warnock, Los Angeles

..

To the editor: Olympic visitors, finding that so many of Los Angeles’ sidewalks are in disrepair without a plan to fix them, will encounter danger in walking to the river.

Sidewalks come before the river.

Michael Haas, Los Angeles

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook