LOS ANGELES – California State Parks and other local and state officials held a groundbreaking ceremony for Los Angeles State Historic Park (LASHP) – a 32-acre open-space revitalization project – on Saturday, March 15, adjacent to the Chinatown district in Downtown Los Angeles.
Known as the “Central Park West of Los Angeles,” Los Angeles State Historic Park is one of the most high-profiled and highly anticipated park projects. It offers a “once-in-a-century opportunity” to connect people to California’s State Park System.
The construction project (which will begin in April 2014) costs $20.8 million and will receive funding from Proposition 84, to be used for renovating a welcome pavilion and amphitheater, for additional parking lots, wetland areas, and many more new facilities.
The park will remain closed until the completion of the project.
State Assemblymember Jimmy Gomez (51st Assembly District) and State Senator Kevin De Leon (22nd District) are the state leaders who helped secure the $20.8-million funding project for LASHP “to reconnect the urban center with the natural environment.”
The completion of project will “allow local residents the opportunity to interact with 32 acres of green, open space in areas that have long been deprived of such privilege.”
Over the past decade, California State Parks has worked with surrounding communities and elected officials to develop a world-class park that will enhance new environmental resources and a better urban community life for local residents and park visitors.
On Sept. 28, 2001, California Senate Bill 1177 was signed by then California Governor Gray Davis to authorize California State Parks for the acquisition, planning, design, environmental assessment and environmental cleanup of the “Cornfield” property (a 32-acre abandoned railroad yard in Los Angeles).
The LASHP project is supported by the Cornfield Advisory Committee, Natural Resources Defense Council, California State Parks Foundation, University of California Los Angeles, Chinatown Business Improvement District, Chinatown Yard Alliance, Los Angeles Conservation Corps, Friends of the Los Angeles River, Mujeres de la Tierra, The City Project, and Urban Semillas.
For more information on the construction project, visit www.lashp.la.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Midweek March 19-21, 2014 Sec A pg.5)