News of the Arroyo
Title: | A bit of the past, preserved and used |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2006-05-24 |
Summary: | May 24, 2006 - Here's the history of equestian use in South Pasadena's stretch of the Arroyo. |
Author: | Gary Scott, Living Here |
Publication: | San Gabriel Valley Tribune |
Content: | In 1916, as the story goes, a couple of waterlogged pigs turned up on the doorstep of a large, wooden barn in South Pasadena\'s Arroyo Seco. The confused swine had only a short time before been slopping about in the arroyo near where the Rose Bowl now stands. A flood had come through and washed them out, carrying them southward like so much debris. No one seems to know what happened to the pigs. But that wasn\'t the point. Clarice Knapp, wife of former South Pasadena Mayor Harry Knapp, told the story one warm day to illustrate the advanced age of the barn, which is still standing 90 years later ó a symbol, she said, of the city\'s equestrian heritage. Today, the barn is part of the San Pascual Stables. Knapp, along with many others in town, fought long and hard a couple years ago to preserve the property and keep the city from razing it for soccer fields. In the affluent bedroom community, soccer fields are in great demand and the AYSO is a powerful lobbying force. In a rare turn, the horse lovers won the day. In the summer of 2004, the South Pasadena City Council agreed to preserve the land for equestrian uses in perpetuity. The promise, though welcome, became more meaningful to the many people who frequent the stables when the council voted to extend its lease. In return, the city took ownership of the buildings on the property, including the old barn. \'It is guaranteed to be an equestrian use down there for at least a decade,\' said Councilman Michael Cacciotti, an admitted soccer enthusiast. \'We will keep that sense of an equestrian history down in the arroyo.\' The lease came up for renewal last August. Alex Bullenhumeur built the stables in 1978 on a former dairy farm. The city bought the land to protect it from further development ó and also as a hedge against the Long Beach (710) Freeway extension. \'There are so few places left in the country that have stuff for equestrians,\' said horse-rider Sumee Chang at a celebration held shortly after the council promised to leave the stables in place. Chang came all the way from Glendale to board her horse, Barroom Buddy, an American Saddlebred. An old boarder at the San Pascual Stables once pointed out that the stables offer an activity that, unlike many other sports, is more popular with the girls. \'There is a sensibility about the nature of the horse that I think appeals to women,\' he said. Cacciotti said he hopes the stables, one of the few that remain in town, reaches out into the community and brings more people into the heart of the South Pasadena Arroyo ó where you will still find a barn, but there is hardly a pig or a flood to be found. gary.scott@sgvn.com (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4458 |
Url: |