Wikipedia

Echo Park Lake

Not to be confused with Echo Lake Park.

The Echo Park Lake is a lake and urban park in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Originally built in the 1860s as a reservoir for drinking water, today Echo Park Lake is a Los Angeles icon that functions primarily as a detention basin in the city's storm drain system, while providing recreational benefits and wildlife habitat. Echo Park Lake also hosts community events, such as the annual Lotus Festival every July.[1] A major renovation was completed in 2013. Beginning in 2019, a homeless encampment developed the shores of the lake that became a "flashpoint in L.A's homelessness crisis."[2]

Echo Park Lake
Echo Park Lake and the Downtown Los Angeles skyline in 2016
Location of Echo Park Lake in California, USA.
Location of Echo Park Lake in California, USA.
Echo Park Lake
Location of Echo Park Lake in California, USA.
Location of Echo Park Lake in California, USA.
Echo Park Lake
Location of Echo Park Lake in California, USA.
Location of Echo Park Lake in California, USA.
Echo Park Lake
LocationEcho Park, Los Angeles, California
Coordinates34°04′21″N 118°15′39″W / 34.07250°N 118.26083°W / 34.07250; -118.26083
TypeLake
Basin countriesUnited States
Surface area14.1 acres (5.7 ha)
Max. depth28 ft (8.5 m)
Water volume70.5 acre⋅ft (87,000 m3)

History

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Beginnings

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Echo Park Lake as depicted in 1894 at the top left. Glendale Boulevard is marked as Lake Shore Avenue. The Temple–Beaudry district is at the right center.

Echo Park Lake's earliest use by the city was as a reservoir for drinking water. The Los Angeles Canal and Reservoir Company formed Reservoir No. 4 in 1868. The company obtained the water by digging a ditch that sent water flowing from the Los Angeles River — in the area now known as Los Feliz — along a zigzag path that emptied into the reservoir.[3]

In 1891 the four owners of the surrounding area gave up 33 acres (13 ha) of land to the city around the reservoir so that it could be used as a park. The city began work landscaping the park in October 1892.[3] City parks superintendent Joseph Henry Tomlinson is recognized for coining the name of the new park, which later became the name of the neighborhood. He chose the name because of echoes he heard during the construction of Echo Park Lake in 1892.[4] By 1895, the park and accompanying boathouse were completed.[3]

By the late 1910s, motion picture companies on Allesandro Street, now Glendale Boulevard, had been using the park as a filming location. City leaders responded by barring Keystone Studios, home of the Keystone Cops, from shooting any of its comedies at the lake, on the grounds that too many flowers were being trampled.[3]

2000s–2010s: Revitalization

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A view of Echo Park Lake towards downtown Los Angeles.

In 2006, the state of California identified Echo Park Lake as an impaired body of water, and the city allocated $64.7 million in 2010 to fund its cleanup and revitalization.[5][6] The lake was closed off and drained in the summer of 2011 when renovation work began. The rehabilitation project tackled Echo Park Lake not only as a recreational body of water, but also as an important part of the Los Angeles ecosystem. Although Echo Park Lake is man-made, it is part of the local watershed. As part of the rehabilitation project, the lake was drained and dredged, a wetlands feature was added, a new boardwalk and walking paths were added, and aquatic plants and lotus flowers were re-planted.[6] The lake reopened on June 5, 2013, after a $45 million renovation.[7] A temporary chain-link fence was placed along the park's perimeter, to protect vegetation and to enable authorities to monitor activity in the park.[7]

2010s-present: Homelessness

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Starting in November 2019, a growing population of homeless people began moving into tents throughout the park, eventually covering the northwest corner of the facility and the entire west bank by the lake.[8] As the encampment grew in size, crime at the park surged, disproportionately affecting the homeless.[9] Four homeless individuals died at the park in 2020.[10]

On March 25, 2021, the park was closed for renovations and cleared of nearly 200 homeless tents.[9] The park was cordoned off with chain-link fencing.[11] This was done to address the high increase of the homeless population throughout the park and repair any damages. Closure notices were posted throughout the park days before the sweep, but a crowd of over 200 protesters met LAPD. This situation escalated tension between neighbors on how to handle the homeless problem in Los Angeles properly.

The lake reopened on May 26, 2021, after the tents were removed.[12] Upon its reopening, the park was closed after hours, from 10 pm to 5 am nightly.[13] The city spent $1.1 million to repair and cleanup the park.[9] The cleanup effort yielded 35 t (35,000 kg) of trash, including 700 lb (320 kg) of biological waste and 30 lb (14 kg) of drug paraphernalia.[9][14]

183 people experiencing homelessness at Echo Park Lake were successfully moved into transitional housing.[15][16] By March 2022, only 17 individuals had transitioned to permanent housing, and 48 remained on a waiting list.[15][16] The remainder had returned to homelessness, often in worse conditions than before they were evicted.[17]

After the 2022 Los Angeles elections, Hugo Soto-Martinez was elected as the council member for Los Angeles's 13th City Council district, where the lake is located.[18] He had campaigned to remove the fence, calling it a symbol of the city's "biggest policy failure on homelessness."[19]

On February 2, 2023, Soto-Martinez announced plans to remove the fence.[20] The issue immediately proved divisive, with many concerned residents and park visitors expressing safety and cleanliness concerns and fearful of a return to the homeless encampments.[21] Others advocated for the fence to remain, or for a permanent wrought iron fence to be installed around the park's perimeter, similar to other parks in the city, like the Los Angeles State Historic Park.[19] While Soto-Martinez struggled to convince concerned residents and local businesses, he otherwise remained intransigent.[19][13] The fencing was removed late March of 2023 and since then has been free of homelessness.

Public art

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Ada Mae Sharpless's sculpture, "Our Queen of the Angels," was donated to the city in 1935 and installed at the edge of Echo Park Lake,[22][23] and became immediately popular at its installation. Despite its official title, it has become popularly known as "The Lady of the Lake."[24]

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Echo Park Lake in Los Angeles". We Like LA. August 30, 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  2. ^ "How a commune-like encampment in Echo Park became a flashpoint in L.A.'s homelessness crisis". Los Angeles Times. March 13, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d "Echo Park History". Echo Park Historical Society. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  4. ^ Nichols, Chris (March 11, 2011). "Where did the name Echo Park come from? Should we hear echoes?". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
  5. ^ "Echo Park Lake clean-up project takes next big step". The Eastsider LA. November 23, 2010. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Echo Park Lake". LA Sanitation & Environment (LASAN). Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  7. ^ a b Gordon, Larry (June 15, 2013). "Echo Park Lake reopens after two-year makeover". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  8. ^ Stuart, Gwynedd (December 23, 2020). "Life (and a Death) in Echo Park's Fast-Growing Tent City". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d Oreskes, Benjamin; Reyes, Emily Alpert (May 19, 2021). "Echo Park Lake to reopen May 26, two months after forced removal of homeless campers". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  10. ^ "Panic in Echo Park: Councilman's Plan to Tear Down Fence Has Some Residents Seeing Red". Los Angeles Magazine. March 19, 2023.
  11. ^ "It's the endgame for the Echo Park homeless encampment". Los Angeles Times. March 25, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  12. ^ "Echo Park Lake reopens, with new grass, new paint and no tents". Los Angeles Times. May 27, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  13. ^ a b Sanchez, Jesús (March 22, 2023). "Echo Park Lake Fence Feud: Councilman Soto-Martinez struggles to persuade residents". The Eastsider LA. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  14. ^ Oreskes, Benjamin (May 6, 2021). "After personal effects were retrieved, workers collected 35 tons of trash at Echo Park Lake". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  15. ^ a b Schrank, Aaron (March 24, 2022). "About 200 removed from Echo Park Lake, today very few are housed". KCRW. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  16. ^ a b "A year after Echo Park Lake encampment removal, few are in permanent housing, report finds". Los Angeles Times. March 23, 2022. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  17. ^ Levin, Sam (March 23, 2022). "One year after LA evicted the unhoused from a park, few are in stable housing". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  18. ^ "The Echo Park Lake fence debate continues". California News. March 23, 2023. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  19. ^ a b c Zahniser, David; Campa, Andrew J. (March 23, 2023). "The fence around Echo Park Lake is coming down. The debate over it rages on". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  20. ^ "Fence surrounding Echo Park Lake to be removed, LA council member says". ABC7 Los Angeles. February 4, 2023. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  21. ^ "Debate over Echo Park Lake fence removal divides community". KCRW. March 23, 2023. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  22. ^ Joe Mozingo, "Welcoming Back 'Lady of the Lake': Echo Park: Some Residents See the Restoration of the Landmark Statue, Commissioned in 1934, as a Symbol of the Community's Renewal," Los Angeles Times (October 10, 1999): 1.
  23. ^ "Echo Park Statue – Los Angeles, CA". The Living New Deal. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  24. ^ Klenow, Erin (June 2016). "The Real Echo Park". Sunset. 236 (6): 26, 28 – via ProQuest.
  25. ^ "Twenty Minutes of Love (1914)". IMDb. April 20, 1914. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  26. ^ a b c "Echo Park Lake – Park Review". Condé Nast Traveler. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  27. ^ "Recreation (1914)". IMDb. August 13, 1914. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  28. ^ "Chinatown (1974) Awards". IMDb. 1974. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  29. ^ "The ultimate 'Chinatown' filming location map of Los Angeles". June 20, 2019. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  30. ^ "Brian Setzer Echo Park Lyrics". 1999. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  31. ^ Thomas, Kevin (January 17, 2003). "This comic romp has a serious subtext". Los Angeles Times.
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