Park(ing) Day LA Returns Today

Hundreds of parking spots will morph into impromptu micro-parks today, as the second Park(ing) Day LA gets underway.

Parking spots — with meters constantly fed — will be filled with plants and other items up and down Wilshire, among other spots.

The goal? To remind the city that Los Angeles “significantly lacks adequate & accessible open space, urban parks, plazas and civic centers”:

While the recent development of such parks as the LA Historic State Park, Rio de Los Angeles State Park, Baldwin Hills Conservancy & Audubon Center at Debs Park are enthusiastically applauded, Park[ing] Day LA hopes to further celebrate the momentum of providing additional parks & open space throughout Los Angeles – especially as it relates to smaller, more infill opportunities to enhance the public realm with the benefit of recreation, landscape, habitat and opportunities to cool the City with increased canopy coverage.

Check out the event’s blog here.

Ambassador Cam, #39: The Skeleton Rises

As the LAUSD prepares to break ground on a new, tiny pocket park and Bobby Kennedy memorial at the Ambassador site (see Curbed LA for full details), construction has already begun on what appears to be the high school portion of the site’s three-school complex.

Curbed L.A. had more details last month:

The scope of the project includes a K-3 School, a 4-8 Middle School, and a High School, for a total of 4,624 students. The 92,000-square-foot K-3 building will accommodate 1,150 seats within 46 classrooms on three floors. The school will be located on the Ambassador Hotel site. The 4-8/High School building will accommodate 3,474 seats within 130 classrooms on six floors. The area is 382,000 square feet, and the rehabilitated Cocoanut Grove building is an additional 48,410 square feet of enclosed and covered areas.

The proposed subterranean parking structure will accommodate a total of 442 parking spaces on two levels for faculty and administrative staff. Playfields for the proposed 4-8/HS will be constructed above the parking structure. The scope also includes construction of a gymnasium building. This structure will accommodate the gymnasium court for grades 6-8 and Central Plant equipment on the first floor, and a gymnasium court for grades 9-12 on the upper level. This is one of the first LAUSD schools with an extensive public art program.

Yes, you’ll notice that the main, high school building has been designed to emulate the old Ambassador. But it’s pretty much a token gesture.

Lotus-Free Festival

Here’s how Echo Park looked in 2005, when Evan and I took in the annual Lotus Festival. It was the first big event I took him to — he was 6 months at the time — and I’ve taken him every year since. This year, he’s probably going to ask me — uh, Daddy, where are the flowers?

The Lotus Festival is coming up on July 11, 12 and 13. For the first time ever, though, it looks like there won’t be any actual lotus plants in the pond as part of the festival. Here’s how it’s looking at Echo Park these days, via the Los Angeles Times’ Ken Hively:

The LAT writes:

Some experts blame trash and debris for the demise of the lotus beds. Echo Park Lake is a storm drain catch basin in the winter, leading some to suspect that contaminants in the runoff may be the cause. The first sign of trouble came after the storms and floods of 2005-2006, after which the lotus blooms started appearing later, and smaller, than usual.

More info on the festival at the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks website. It’s still a nice festival, even minus the Lotus plants… but it’s definitely not the same.

Whatever Happened To… "Parky," the L.A. Parks and Recreation Kangaroo?

Neatocoolville, who runs one of the, well, neatest and coolest Flickr sites around, recently posted this pic of “Parky” the Kangaroo, who reminds litterbugs to pick up their trash and keep their parks clean.

“Parky” actually originated in Los Angeles. Cartoonist Lloyd Hutchinson created “Parky” in 1952 — and originally suggested the name “Trashy” for his creation. (Damn it when cooler, if not pretty uncreative, minds prevail!) Hutchinson decribes the history of “Parky” in a comment on Neatocoolville’s page:

In 1952, the Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation sponsored a cleanup campaign and announced a cartoon contest to select a character to represent the City of Los Angeles.

My cartoon was chosen as the winner, out of 450 entries. Parky decals were soon seen on every trash can on beaches and parks throughout Los Angeles. They were also placed on every Water and Power truck, and on each city vehicle. Also, every letter which passed through the LA Terminal Annex postal facility bore the Parky imprimatur. Parky’s image was soon distributed to many other states, as well as to Canada and other foreign countries.

Parky’s name, of course, was derived from the Department of Recreation and Parks. (My original name for Parky was “Trashy”, believe it or not!) Parky was considered a public service creation, and my only compensation (besides a 3 day trip to Mammoth Lakes with my new wife) was a small honorarium for two posters depicting Parky using his familiar cleanup stick. Later, the City of Los Angeles announced a Parky song competition, which was won by a local couple. The song was recorded by Wilbur Hatch and the NBC orchestra, and sung by the prominent performer, Johnny Green.

Parky signs still exist, I remember seeing one somewhere a few years ago, but can’t remember where. Long live Parky!

Several Years in the Making, the Adams Hill Mini-Park Finally Opens

When we first moved to Glendale’s Adams Hill, a sign posted in front of an abandoned 30s-era art deco gas station promised a new park, opening in the fall of 2004.

Fall 2004 came and went, and the sign changed to “2005.” But suddenly, the city had second thoughts, and plans started circulating to demolish the gas station and turn the lot into parking for Adams Square businesses.

That brought out the big Adams Hill Homeowners Association guns. Even I got into the act in a small way, creating this blog in order to organize all of the pro-park, pro-preservation info for the gas station structure in one place.

Thankfully, the city agreed and new plans were drawn up. Glendale finally broke ground for the park in July 2006, with plans to open in December.

Then, another snag: Rather than follow the plans as approved by the city, somehow new plans emerged that crowded the small space with too much concrete, too many tables and two large play structures. Rather than settle for that eyesore of a park, the Homeowners Association again fought for what was originally envisioned — and again, the city backed down.

That delayed the opening several more months… but finally, this past weekend, all that work paid off. The new pocket park opened, and it’s beautiful. Not to mention one-of-a-kind, with the restored gas station structure. It’s definitely a gathering space, and already Blogger Toddler has made good use out of the play structure. At night, what had been a dark, abandoned corner is now bright with lights. Here are a few pics from this Saturday’s opening ceremonies:

The art-deco gas station, now sporting a new “Glendale” sign (and its original blue-and-yellow paint design).

A vintage gas pump will occasionally make it to the park — but only every once in a while; you can imagine that thing would be vandalized/stolen rather quickly otherwise.

Crowd gathers for the park dedication.

Several Years in the Making, the Adams Hill Mini-Park Finally Opens

When we first moved to Glendale’s Adams Hill, a sign posted in front of an abandoned 30s-era art deco gas station promised a new park, opening in the fall of 2004.

Fall 2004 came and went, and the sign changed to “2005.” But suddenly, the city had second thoughts, and plans started circulating to demolish the gas station and turn the lot into parking for Adams Square businesses.

That brought out the big Adams Hill Homeowners Association guns. Even I got into the act in a small way, creating this blog in order to organize all of the pro-park, pro-preservation info for the gas station structure in one place.

Thankfully, the city agreed and new plans were drawn up. Glendale finally broke ground for the park in July 2006, with plans to open in December.

Then, another snag: Rather than follow the plans as approved by the city, somehow new plans emerged that crowded the small space with too much concrete, too many tables and two large play structures. Rather than settle for that eyesore of a park, the Homeowners Association again fought for what was originally envisioned — and again, the city backed down.

That delayed the opening several more months… but finally, this past weekend, all that work paid off. The new pocket park opened, and it’s beautiful. Not to mention one-of-a-kind, with the restored gas station structure. It’s definitely a gathering space, and already Blogger Toddler has made good use out of the play structure. At night, what had been a dark, abandoned corner is now bright with lights. Here are a few pics from this Saturday’s opening ceremonies:

The art-deco gas station, now sporting a new “Glendale” sign (and its original blue-and-yellow paint design).

A vintage gas pump will occasionally make it to the park — but only every once in a while; you can imagine that thing would be vandalized/stolen rather quickly otherwise.

Crowd gathers for the park dedication.

Bringing More Park Space Comes to Los Angeles — Well, For a Day

Check out this map to find out where today parking spaces have been miraculously turned into a small green oasis.

It’s all a part of Park(ing) Day LA, in which metered parking spaces are turned into temporary, mega-mini public parks.

Idea was first launched in San Francisco in 2005, and has now spread to several cities, including L.A.

The organizers write:

Los Angeles has fewer parks and vibrant public spaces than other large cities. L.A.’s public spaces have increasingly become dedicated to and degraded by large volumes of vehicular traffic. Park(ing) Day raises awareness about the need for community-oriented and recreational spaces such as parks, while promoting dialogue around creative alternatives to current uses of urban public space. Park(ing) Day L.A. is a call to action for all who seek to improve quality of life in our urban centers and are concerned about the disparities between public space allocated for parking cars and space made available for parks and other community infrastructure such as playgrounds and gardens.

The parking space parks will vary: “Some parks will be as simple as a layer of sod or artificial turf, a bench or two, and a few potted trees and shrubs. Other parks are being elaborately designed by professional architects and landscape architects.”

A Park(ing) Day LA After-Party will then be held later today, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., at 610 S. Ardmore (in the Public Counsel Parking Lot).

I’m almost embarrassed to say that in our Glendale ‘hood, we’ve got not one, but two parks opening near us in the coming weeks.