News of the Arroyo
Title: | Cornfield Park Could Be a Decade Away |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2005-08-08 |
Summary: | August 8, 2005 - Subhead: "State Officials Say Cost of Long-Awaited Facility May Hit $60 Million" Here's the scoop on the Cornfields project near the confluence with the LA River. |
Author: | Kathryn Maese |
Publication: | Los Angeles Downtown News |
Content: | Although many in Downtown may have expected that a large new park in the Cornfield, just north of Chinatown, would open in the near future, state officials said last week that the long-awaited facility may be another decade away. The 32-acre Cornfield State Park is being turned into a temporary art installation aimed at generating interest in the site\'s development. The state needs an estimated $30 million to build a permanent park. Photo by Gary Leonard. California State Park department planners blamed the state budget crisis for the delay. The total cost for the park could now reach $60 million. The California State Parks department spent $30 million in bond money in 2001 to acquire the former freight yard, which is considered a centerpiece in the effort to revive the Los Angeles River. Last week, they said they now need to scrape together nearly $30 million more to build the 32-acre park. \"We are hoping to put together a budget package, maybe with appropriations in the budget on a yearly basis,\" said state park planner Sean Woods. \"There is also a proposal for a $3.8 billion bond act on the next ballot as well as local grants. In the meantime we are working with the State Parks Foundation to raise private funds.\" However, First District City Councilman Ed Reyes, whose district includes the Cornfield, said a ballot measure is unlikely to fly. He said park planners will have to find alternatives for building the project\'s cultural center, walking paths, picnic areas and playing fields. \"You can\'t bond to death the population,\" Reyes said, referring to a string of state bond issues approved by voters. \"Sometimes you have to stop and breathe. This is a timing issue.\" Reyes said he wants to tap volunteer labor and encourage local universities and schools to improve the site or use it as a learning lab focusing on brown field mitigation and ecology. \"All these stakeholders should be using this opportunity to engage students,\" he said. \"If we are gong to stay on this one-track way of doing things with blinders on then yes, the park will take 20 years or more to build. But we\'re running out of time.\" Woods said the state is considering a design competition on the scale of the $1.8 billion Grand Avenue project as a way to generate interest and capital from private investors. The adjacent community and nearby river have long been viewed as prime real estate for residential and commercial development, particularly with the current boom in the Downtown Los Angeles housing market. Still, some who worked to acquire the land are angered that elected officials haven\'t done more to secure funding for the park. Lewis MacAdams, who founded Friends of the Los Angeles River and worked with several community groups to campaign for the park, said Downtown\'s \"only real park\" is languishing, penniless. \"I don\'t so much blame State Parks as I do the Central City politicians, from the L.A. City Council to the County Supervisors to our delegation in the State Legislature for not fighting for funding to make this park happen,\" MacAdams said. \"I would venture a guess that few if any state parks will serve a larger or more diverse constituency than the Cornfield State Park.\" Alternative Plan Many in the parks-poor community have looked to the Cornfield as a chance for the area to finally get some of the recreation opportunities that other parts of Los Angeles enjoy. Thus the state\'s 2001 purchase was particularly welcomed; it followed a nearly 10-year battle by local groups to acquire the land and stave off attempts to turn it into an industrial complex. Although Woods said the department is fast-tracking the Cornfield project, current plans call for a modest, temporary $1.2 million park to open on the site in late 2006. The 12-acre facility is being funded through Prop. 40. Construction will begin in November, following the culmination of a privately funded $2 million art project in which Annenberg Foundation trustee and artist Laura Bon is planting corn on much of the property. But for some community and business leaders, a temporary park is not enough. They say more needs to be done to ensure the remaining 20 acres of the Cornfield do not lie dormant for the next decade. Kim Benjamin, president of the Chinatown Business Improvement District and vice president of the Historic Cultural Neighborhood Council, has proposed a plan that would create a baseball diamond, soccer fields, picnic benches, a Tai Chi exercise area and walking tours on 10 additional acres of the Cornfield. He said local property owners, along with nearby Cathedral High School and the Chinese Benevolent Association, have agreed to help raise the estimated $600,000 needed to implement the plan. That does not include operating costs. \"By September of next year this could all be pulled together,\" Benjamin said. \"We\'re not looking to build any buildings or make a monolith in the sky, but to take the improved, graded land from Laura Bon\'s installation and be in a position when it was done to implement our project.\" Benjamin said the endeavor is subject to approval from Reyes, who has expressed interest, and other stakeholders. However, he noted that the biggest hurdle could come from State Parks, which he said discourages temporary uses on park sites because they may be difficult to remove after several years of community use. \"The state said they are not interested in any ball fields on this site,\" he said. \"But at the time this park was discussed in the community nobody assumed the park would be delayed indefinitely. So in the interim, flexibility is a necessity.\" Woods said the department\'s mission does not allow recreational sports in its parks, a function he said falls under the purview of the city\'s Recreation and Parks Department. Instead, State Parks is required to protect and enhance the area\'s natural resources; a goal he said was supported early on by the 40-person Cornfield Advisory Committee, which represents 63 local groups. \"[Kim Benjamin\'s] fear was that only 12 acres would be developed, but that\'s not the case,\" Woods said. \"The Annenberg infrastructure will allow us to augment the interim park with a $600,000 one-mile track. They are also greening up the entire 20 acres, so people can come kick a ball around but not in lined fields. This park is meant to tell the history of the diverse community within the context of a historic park.\" Woods added that Cathedral High School, which also sought to create playing fields on the site, is being allowed special use of the track for its track and field team practice. In recent years, area leaders have sought to bring back the L.A. River in part by proposing parks at the Cornfield and nearby Taylor Yard. Work has begun on the L.A. River Revitalization Plan, which will create a master vision for developing housing, parks and other community amenities along the unsightly waterway (see page 10). Woods said nearly 30 staffers are working on the Cornfield project, and are addressing funding and hammering out operational costs. He said the project is different from most in the state\'s portfolio, since the land was not acquired to augment an existing park. \"We\'re working with a blank slate,\" Woods said. \"We will not allow it to lay fallow, people in the community won\'t let you. It\'s a highly visible park, and it\'s our first foray into the urban core so we have to make a statement and be successful.\" Reyes Wants Planning Department to Tackle L.A. River As part of an effort to create a master plan for rehabbing the blighted Los Angeles River, First District City Councilman Ed Reyes last week called for a special unit in the city\'s Planning Department to spearhead the waterway\'s devel-opment. Reyes, who chairs the council\'s ad hoc river committee, said the new focus makes sense given the time and investment going into bringing back the now concrete-clad river. \"Over the past several years we have been methodical and deliberative in approaching the development of the Los Angeles River,\" Reyes said. \"Today, as we look towards creating a master plan for what is certain to be one of the most ambitious public works projects in our city\'s history, it makes sense that this special unit be created.\" Last year Reyes secured $3 million for a master plan that will be led by Pasadena-based engineering firm Tetra Tech. The 20-year plan, which will focus on a 31-mile river corridor within city limits, will include recommendations for improving water quality, flood control, and wildlife habitat, as well as opportunities for developing commercial, housing and park projects. \"We are at a critical point in our river\'s history and the success of the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan will be key to that success,\" Reyes said. The Planning and Land Use Management Committee will weigh in on the issue in the coming weeks; it will then head to the City Council for a vote. Contact Kathryn Maese at kathryn@downtownnews.com. |
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