Sometimes it feels like I just don’t get around as much as I used to.
How else to explain my embarrassing ignorance of a splendid little pocket park practically in my own backyard?
Acting on a tip from a source that will remain nameless (OK, it was this month’s issue of Sunset Magazine), your humble blogger set out to explore the Los Angeles River Center along with its rustic gardens tucked behind the intersection of W. Avenue 26 and San Fernando Road.
Remember Lawry’s?
Longtime Angelenos might recognize this spot as the former home of the Lawry’s California Center, a 17-acre food complex shuttered during the early 1990s. For years it drew millions of visitors to its hacienda-like environs for al fresco patio dining.
Way back when, I was among those many visitors, lunching there two or three times with summer co-workers during my college days.
Now, having completely forgotten the place over the ensuing years, I experienced instant deja vu as I parked my Jeep and strolled through the gates. The tables, waiters, patio heaters and BBQ aromas may be gone, but the landmark has lost none of its charm.
Just the opposite, I’d argue it has grown in ambiance, now that it’s being put to use as an interpretive center for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, the Friends of the Los Angeles River and other groups trying to return the nearby Porciuncula to a much greener state. (According to one of the park’s rangers, the state-run Conservancy took charge of the grounds in 2000.)
Taking the Tour
Passing through the main gate and taking an immediate right lands you at the doors of a visitor’s lobby, where simple displays (left) offer a brief natural history of the Los Angeles River. Outside, water dances in several fountains and reflecting pools sheltered by the main building’s bell tower and archways.
Further beyond the central complex, a path bounded by river rock wends its way through a quiet stand of trees, California natives and exotics. Losing yourself amid nature, it’s easy to forget that the Metro and Taylor train yards lie just across the street while Cypress Park’s gigantic Home Depot bustles with traffic just a stone’s throw up San Fernando Road.
Gateway to History
For Westsiders and those otherwise unfamiliar with the area, this is Frogtown, a historic Latino barrio nestled between Silver Lake and Glassell Park. Officially known as the Elysian Valley, it was dubbed Gopher Flats in the 1900s, but renamed again after the 1930s when plagues of croaking amphibians invaded the local streets.
Long before that, however, this area was at the epicenter of 1870s water controversies. Not far from here, the city wrested control of a zanja (water ditch) from Anastacio Feliz, one of the last heirs to Rancho Los Feliz, on what many saw as questionable legal grounds. Trivial as they may seem to us today, the city’s claims to the river’s waters were upheld by the State Supreme Court, helping set the stage for L.A.’s explosive growth a decade later.
The Feliz zanja has long since vanished, but a few blocks from the River Center you can access the Glendale Narrows bike path that takes you past the site of the controversy and into Griffith Park. Along the way you’ll encounter several more interesting pocket parks.
Summing It Up…
All in all, the L.A. River Center and Gardens offer a peaceful reflection on the many transformations still taking place along this stretch of riverbed as well as the dynamic community surrounding it. Visitor info for the park can be found at LAmountains.com.
Personally, your humble blogger looks forward to returning for yet more “rediscoveries” in the near future. This particular green space is a hidden Angeleno treasure.
