Friends of Griffith Park continues to initiate and promote projects that will enhance the visitor experience and those that support the Park’s wildlife and habitat

GRIFFITH PARK MERRY-GO-ROUND
As strange as it sounds, the privately-owned historic 1926 Stillman carousel sits inside a building owned by the L.A. Department of Recreation and Parks (RAP). Due to co-owner Julio Gosdinski’s death at the age of 49 in 2020, his 50% ownership still rests in the hands of the probate court.

Even so, the beloved merry-go-round operated sporadically during the COVID-19 pandemic, until a very expensive mechanical repair shuttered this affordable, favorite attraction. Unfortunately, until there is a resolution in the court case, little can be done to address the mechanical problems and reopen the ride.

FoGP continues to see strong interest in keeping this rich piece of history alive in Griffith Park. To reiterate, FoGP is anxious to see RAP acquire ownership of the carousel and will help in this effort.

Parents of young children regularly reach out and ask us when it might reopen. Sadly, kids will miss another holiday season of riding this mighty four-abreast horse carousel. The ride was inspirational for Walt Disney, and has enthralled thousands of youngsters over the nearly nine decades it has resided in the Park. Julio’s smiling face and passion made it even more inviting in recent decades.

GRIFFITH PARK PONY RIDES
Another favorite and affordable Park attraction – the pony rides – was placed on hiatus in late 2022. RAP hired an outside consultant, PlaceWorks, to manage the controversy with the public about live animal rides. Public outreach for “Reimagining the Pony Rides Site” conducted by the consultant has ended, and their formal report was delivered to RAP Commissioners on September 16, 2024.

The report gives no answers. Instead, it exhibits loads of input collected from the public via various methods. The “statistically valid survey” is compelling and states that a fair representation of L.A.’s demographics indicate that 70% of the public favor pony rides being offered to children with only 16% opposed.

The report cites a variety of possible uses for the 3.5-acre venue, with or without pony rides being a part of the final choice. Seven case studies of activities within California, ranging from no-animal interaction to primarily animal interaction facilities, illustrate the possibilities for the site’s future. The case studies also explore business models, management structures, capital investment, and construction time for each option.

At the September Commission meeting, no deliberations occurred, although questions from L.A. Park Commission’s President Renata Simril were answered. One question was whether there was a “strategic plan” for Griffith Park, and the response was, “not at this time.” However, A Vision for Griffith Park which provides an important document to guide Griffith Park, was not part of the discussion.

It was made clear that a decision might be a combination of activities from the case models presented. No timeline was given for this important topic to return to the Commission for final decisions regarding the venue.

The complete report, as well as detailed information on the path of outreach along the way can be accessed online.

LOS ANGELES ZOO EXPANSION
Litigation filed jointly by Friends of Griffith Park and the Griffith J. Griffith Charitable Trust on September 13, 2023, has not yet been resolved. The deadline for the City Attorney to present the Administrative Record has been extended several times by the Court, due to its depth and considering the possibility of settlement.

The suit, based upon the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), targets the massive excavation of an unnatural 60-ft deep “man-made canyon,” an 18,000 sq. ft. visitor center on top of a high ridgeline, and the loss of native habitat containing rare and sensitive flora, along with 26 City-protected trees/shrubs.

ALCOHOL POLICY ADOPTED
FoGP remains concerned that in March of 2024, RAP expanded the opportunity for approved events to serve alcohol. In the adopted Revised Alcohol Policy, an “unlimited number of open area events” can be authorized by the RAP General Manager.

A second concern is that RAP expanded the currently-allowed beer and wine policy to include all liquor for these events.

We have suggested that Griffith Park’s “Wilderness Area,” which is delineated in the Historic-Cultural Monument documents, be precluded from potential “open area alcohol events” locations. FoGP has also reminded decision-makers that 800 acres burned in 2007, and an average of about a dozen reported fires per year are extinguished in Griffith Park. It has been shown repeatedly that alcohol is tied to carelessness and people falling asleep while smoking, contrary to the Park’s strict no smoking rules.

Loosening the Alcohol Policy is truly an environmental issue for Griffith Park with management’s extraordinary authority to permit alcohol in outdoor events. Currently, RAP struggles with budget reductions and insufficient staffing. We believe RAP is interested in having a standard policy throughout all its 450-plus properties and needs to raise revenue any way it can. However, standard policy does not fit the reality for Griffith Park or other regional parks in RAP’s holdings.

FERN DELL WROUGHT-IRON FENCE / PHASE 3
When FoGP completed the attractive, historically-accurate (1920s) pedestrian bridge in 2019, the rusty chain-linked fencing surrounding the bridge became a horrific eyesore in comparison. It was up to our organization to make improvements since stretched-thin City dollars were unavailable.

Through fund-matching with generous donors, especially nearby residents, FoGP was able to complete the first two sections during 2020 and 2021. Our goal now – to encircle the entire area from the north side of the new bridge to the south to create a large loop with two gates that are secured at night.

The contractor FoGP used for Phases 1 and 2 did superb work. This year, while committed to Phase 3, the final and longest stretch, we en- countered a series of “red tape” bumps – even though we had already secured funding for the project completion! Fortunately, persistence paid off and we were able to work out issues over the course of several months.

We hope all Park visitors will enjoy this new section along the 200-ft long pathway that connects lower and upper Fern Dell, east of the bridges. Now, instead of dilapidated chain-link fence, you’ll find a more attractive, friendlier wrought-iron fence. Matching funds from our close partner, the Griffith J. Griffith Charitable Trust, made this project possible.

ORIGINAL TILE ROOF RETURNS TO THE FERN DELL COMFORT STATION
Some may think a restroom could not possibly be considered a historic feature, however; Fern Dell’s 1926-era “comfort station” is something everyone can embrace!

Constructed in the Spanish Colonial style, this structure boasted period-defining details that have been lost over the decades. Ironically, shortly after the Park’s designation as a Historic-Cultural Monument in 2009, the terracotta tiled roof was replaced with asphalt shingles while our attention was elsewhere.

With approvals by the L.A.’s Department of Recreation and Parks, FoGP has been allowed to restore the roof back to its historic look. Our chosen contractor, Roof Repair Specialists, did a fantastic job. We hope you agree!

Although the vertical, lathed wood spindles were another striking and distinct detail of the original comfort station, FoGP was not permitted to incorporate them at this time. Eventually, we hope to reincorporate them, at least, in the openings above the doors.

MEASURE W PROJECT / FERN DELL
Our largest potential project of all involves flowing water in Fern Dell. Engineering consultant Craftwater, Inc., continues the Feasibility Study for the Fern Dell Rehabilitation and Stormwater Capture Project. The one-year study grant was awarded through the County’s Safe, Clean Water Program.

Recently FoGP learned that the County will postpone the annual “call for projects.” As a result, this Feasibility Study Phase will continue for another year, but has been elevated to a higher level of design, 30% rather than 10%. Additional program funding of roughly $40,000 will allow Craftwater to further develop conceptual and technical scopes. Even though this project will be delayed a year, we remain optimistic it will be elevated to full Design Phase.

Our vision for this project – to rehabilitate Fern Dell and improve the water quality that’s being discharged from the area and eventually flows into Ballona Creek. Stormwater capture and diversion from the existing City storm drain system, along with water storage and reuse are high priority goals.

Recirculation of stored water to the upper Fern Dell streambed, most often bone dry, is another goal that will benefit visitors’ experience, as well as tree and habitat health.

There are many possibilities for Fern Dell: an enhanced parking lot with a permeable surface, appropriate landscaping, historic trail restoration, and the gift of a renewed irrigation system.

~Gerry Hans, FoGP president

Mike Eberts’ book Griffith Park: A Centennial History opens with a 1935 map of the Park, created by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Look closely — in the northeast quadrant is a small field that features a small biplane, hanger and runway referenced as the National Guard Airport.

An airfield? In Griffith Park? My interest is piqued!

This was my first realization that an airfield existed, at least briefly in this part of Griffith Park which has seen many realignments over the decades. Unfortunately, every single structure related to this airfield is long gone — swept away by time, by freeways and by the reconfiguration of the Park. It’s all vanished into thin air.

According to Eberts, Col. Griffith’s son Van had been bitten by the lure of the wide open skies and the burgeoning aviation industry in his youth, becoming “an accomplished glider pilot and balloonist.” Eventually Van veered toward the business side and in 1911, founded a magazine called Aviation which lasted a year.

Around this time, Van also became involved in the creation of a flying field on the Griffith Reservation — a property that remained under ownership of the Griffith family when the original land grant was gifted to the City in 1896. This particular area was perfectly suited to an airfield since it consisted of broad, flat land, unlike the steep, deep canyons of Griffith Park.

The newly constructed Griffith Park Aerodrome catered to early aviation pioneers like Glenn L. Martin who in 1912 established the Glenn L. Martin Co., and operated out of this location until 1916 when he left for the greener pastures of New Jersey. Martin’s departure from Los Angeles, left the airfield without sufficient resources and the field quickly fell into disrepair. In 1921, The City of Los Angeles purchased the Griffith Reservation property, making it an official part of Griffith Park. During this period several failed attempts were made to revive the airfield, and in 1924 the property was leased to the California National Guard, and used to train military pilots.

In 1929, the airfield lease was extended for an additional five years, but by now things were beginning to radically change. The land was now part of Griffith Park and Van Griffith was becoming increasingly disillusioned with the National Guard occupying this space. As a Park commissioner, Van had voted against reauthorizing the lease, although he was overruled by other committee members. By the early 1930s, he had became more vocal, commenting, “The temporary use of a part of Griffith Park granted to the California National Guard should be considered TEMPORARY in every sense of the word…”

At the same time, another situation was emerging — the National Guard airfield was interfering with approaches to Grand Central Air Terminal — a small commercial airport located in nearby Glendale. Both fields were using the same airspace and the possibility of mid-air collisions were increasing.

By 1939, the L.A. City Planning Division concluded that the National Guard field violated the original land grant terms, the airport was shuttered, and the National Guard’s 40th Air Corps Division was moved elsewhere. By 1959, the Glendale airport was also shuttered, and flights were moved to the larger Burbank Airport facility.

After WWII, the National Guard field became the site of Rodger Young Village, housing returning vets and families, due to a city-wide housing shortage. The Village closed in the mid-1950s and beginning in 1956, construction of the I-5 freeway consumed a large portion of the area. This was followed by construction of the 134 freeway in 1971 which consumed even more of the former National Guard field. The remainder of the area is now occupied by a portion of the LA Zoo parking lot, the Griffith Park Ferraro Soccer Fields, and the Griffith Park dog park, all sandwiched between two freeways, and the L.A. River.

Little remains of the fascinating aviation history in the Park

On the crest of the tall peak adjacent the I-5, a revolving beacon once warned pilots to steer clear of the steep hills and deep canyons of Griffith Park. All is completely gone. The peak — Beacon Hill as it’s called — still exists and the trail up and around is now used by hikers who may not know they’re walking on the last remnants of the storied aviation history in Griffith Park.

~­Kathryn Louyse, FoGP Board Member

The year is 1775. In October, forty soldiers and 240 civilians under the command of Captain Juan Bautista de Anza set out from the presidio at Tubac, AZ to colonize present-day San Jose. In January 1776, they pass through the future pueblo of Los Angeles and camp along the river at a place called El Portezuelo. Later, one soldier, Corporal Jose Vicente Feliz, will receive a land grant that includes El Portezuelo. Eventually it will become known as Rancho Los Feliz and ultimately, Griffith Park.

Fast forward to 2012. With a technical assistance grant from the National Park Service Rivers, Trails & Conservation Assistance (NPS-RTCA) program, Friends of Griffith Park has embarked on a project to improve Griffith Park’s Anza Trail. We’re excited to be serving as Project Cooperator for a primary planning team that includes the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks and NPS-RTCA.

The outcome will be a link in a well-defined Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail stretching from Nogales, AZ to the San Francisco Bay. Along the trail, the National Park Service envisions that visitors will “experience landscapes similar to those the expedition saw; learn the stories of the expedition, its members, and descendants… and appreciate the extent of the accomplishments of Juan Bautista de Anza and his colonizers.”

Part of President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative

Elevating prospects for success is the project’s recent mention in President Obama’s “America’s Great Outdoors” (AGO) Fifty-State Report. The report highlights two projects in every state as local grassroots conservation efforts of significant value. In California, one of them is trail improvements along the Los Angeles River including Griffith Park and the Anza Trail. This inclusion helps position the project as a priority endeavor for the State and the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Current trail conditions, challenges and opportunities

Horseback riders, hikers and runners routinely enjoy Griffith Park’s segment of the Anza Trail – a distance of approximately 4 miles. It can be accessed at the Park’s northwest entrance, opposite the Equestrian Center or at the southeast terminus near the Pony/Train Ride concession at the Park’s Los Feliz entrance. In some places it passes through remnants of oak woodland communities and is shaded by heritage oaks and ancient sycamores. Elsewhere it skirts picnic grounds and the Wilson-Harding Golf Course offering views of the Park’s foothills. Be forewarned that some sections of the trail are less than ideal and that problems with upkeep and freeway noise will affect enjoyment.

Friends of Griffith Park is seeking to improve the overall trail experience. Beyond resolving maintenance issues and making necessary repairs, potential improvements may include adding interpretative signage to promote the trail’s educational value, creating signage to call attention to its heritage trees and plants, improving the landscape, adding noise mitigation measures and promoting connectivity to other Anza Trail units. We are at the beginning stage of the planning process, but if we do our work well, the Anza Trail will one day become a rewarding experience in the discovery and enjoyment of Griffith Park.

Griffith Park has been ahead of the game when it comes to sustainability and water recapturing. Long before it became a popular practice, the Park was employing modern practices.

One of the best examples is in Fern Dell. You´ve all seen the little stream that throughout much of the year has very little water in it. Have you noticed the old green shack on the east side of the road across from Black Oak Drive? That´s the old pump house for a water recirculating system. It used to capture water from the stream as it flowed from the west side of the road under Fern Dell Drive. A large pipe, still visible, fed water into the pump where it was pumped back up the hill and was released back into the stream somewhere above Trails Café. This made maximum use of the small amount of water that naturally flowed down the stream. The remainder of the water that was not captured continued down the stream on the east side of the road and disappeared into the storm drains on Los Feliz Blvd.

Friends of Griffith Park recently won a Technical Assistance grant from L.A. County´s Safe Clean Water project. Part of the plan is to replicate that old water recirculating system but with modern, more powerful pumps and smaller more efficient pipes. If the project is implemented, Fern Dell will once again have a steady flow of water in its stream.

And water that currently flows into the storm drain? Much of this water will be captured and stored in a huge underground storage tank that will be located under the grassy area behind the Berlin Bear. You´ll still be able to picnic or sunbathe on the grass, but the water that was captured below you will be used for irrigating the ferns in Fern Dell or replenishing the stream.

A remarkable amount of water runs down the street even during a relatively light rainfall. That´s because the watershed area in the canyon is so big. It drains everything from the Observatory down to Los Feliz, an area of 320 acres. The area above the Fern Dell parking lot includes a series of catch basins, built in the 1930s, which have two main functions. The first is to protect the Dell from mud flows during heavy rain storms. The second is to catch the rain water in giant basins where the rainwater will seep into the soil and replenish the aquifer.

Another large series of catch basins is located between the heliport and the Commonwealth Nursery. As you walk up Commonwealth to Vista del Valle and Cedar Grove, you may have noticed a beautiful stone mandala and thought it was just a lovely artistic creation. It is indeed that. Constructed by a very talented CCC team during the Depression, it is the final and largest catch basin in that series. If you look down on it from the heliport, you can see the various channels and basins that contained the flow of water.

Do catch basins really work? Indeed they do. The trick is that they need to be cleared of debris annually so that they will be able to handle the next storm. Sometimes a storm is so heavy that it overwhelms the system. In the early 1970s, heavy storms did exactly that. So much mud flowed down Fern Dell stream that it filled the stream bed to just under the small bridges. Crews had to hand dig out the mud. Many homeowners are using a similar system today to catch much of the rain that falls in their yards and lead it toward a rain garden, a low spot in your yard designed to capture the water and slowly replenish the aquifer.

The Commonwealth Nursery used to feature another example of water recapturing. Rain that fell on the roofs of the now-abandoned green houses was caught in gutters that fed into storage

You, too, can practice sustainability in your own yard, albeit on a smaller scale. You can create a rain garden. You can take water from your gutters and store it in rain barrels to use later to water your garden. Follow Griffith Park´s lead and become a good steward of water.­

~Marian Dodge, FoGP Board Member

At the end of World War II, thousands of servicemen and women returned to Los Angeles and looked for a house to rent. Thousands of workers who came earlier to the Los Angeles area to work in aircraft factories already occupied the affordable homes. Two thousand homeless veterans were sleeping in MacArthur Park. (Sound familiar?) This was no way to treat soldiers who had fought to defend their country. Housing had to be found.

Mayor Fletcher Bowron favored converting the National Guard Airfield in Griffith Park into a site for temporary housing for vets in 1946. Located where the Zoo parking lot is now, it had many positive features: it was flat and it already had gas, water and sewer lines. Remember that in 1946 there was no I-5 and no St. Rte. 134 so the site was much larger than the current zoo parking lot. The two large airplane hangers could be adapted into a school and a market, and1,500 Quonset huts could house 5,000.

This proposal created a quandary for Van Griffith. He was generally a progressive person and favored subsidizing housing for the vets. However as the son of Griffith J. Griffith, the donor of Griffith Park, he was charged with protecting the Park. Van Griffith formally opposed using the parkland for a housing project because it was not a recreational use of the park per his father´s deed of gift and filed a lawsuit. He also feared the project would become permanent and be lost to the Park forever. Griffith suggested an alternative. The city had 30,000 parcels of foreclosed property at the time. He proposed renting the properties to vets and putting a Quonset hut on each property. That way the vet could eventually acquire the property and begin building generational wealth. He understood that many landlords would not rent to families with children so there were few options available to them.

The judge denied Griffith´s lawsuit. Opposing housing for vets was a highly unpopular position to take at that time. Griffith´s stand to protect Griffith Park cost him; Mayor Bowron removed Griffith from the Police Commission.

The City Housing Authority gave $1,040,000 which was matched by federal funds. The city provided streets, sidewalks and utilities. City Council waived all zoning and building codes and issued a permit to operate the housing project for three years.

The City quickly put up 1,500 Quonset huts, corrugated metal buildings used frequently by the military during the war. (Quonset stands for ‘Quick On Site.’) Each family got half a Quonset hut, roughly 40′ by 20′ with two bedrooms, a kitchen with a stove and icebox, and five feet of lawn in front. Rent was $34 a month for an unfurnished unit, $40 for a furnished unit. The village was completed in a little more than two months.

Why was it called Rodger Young Village?

Noted Hollywood songwriter, Frank Loesser (Guys and Dolls, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying) was a private in the Army´s Radio Production Unit during the war. Loesser´s 1942 war song, Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition, became a big hit. They asked him to write an infantry song to encourage the troops. Loesser decided to base the song on a Medal of Honor recipient. He searched the list of recipients, a logical place to find a hero worthy of song. He could have chosen Arnold L. Bjorklund, Ernest H. Dervishian, Jose M. Lopez, Shizuya Hayashi, or Peter Tomich, medal recipients all, to show the ethnic diversity of America´s armed forces, but he did not.

Loesser admitted that he wasn´t really looking for the greatest hero but for a name that — to his professional songwriter´s ear — would scan well. Fitting the bill was Private First Class Rodger Young who was posthumously awarded the medal for single-handedly charging and taking out an enemy machine gun nest in the Solomon Islands allowing the rest of his platoon to survive. The Ballad of Rodger Young was sung by such noted singers as Burl Ives, Nelson Eddy, Earl Wrightson and The Four Lads, and although it was popular with the infantry, the tune never became a big hit.

The grand opening

Mayor Bowron pulled out all the stops for the dedication of the village on April 27, 1946. This is Hollywood after all. The event featured Jack Benny, Don Wilson, band leader Phil Harris, Bette Davis, Lena Horne, Dinah Shore, and Governor Earl Warren. Dennis Day sang The Ballad of Rodger Young. Of course Young´s mother was flown in from Baltimore for the occasion.

Who lived there?

As you might imagine with returning vets and all those war brides, Rodger Young Village (RYV) was full of small children. The on-site elementary school had more students than Los Feliz Elementary School.

One of those kids was Peter Aguilar in his sombrero. He enjoyed a happy childhood in Griffith Park playing with all the other little kids. The village featured a market, church and shops. Many residents planted flowers in front of their Quonset hut. The Fuller Brush man regularly knocked on doors offering his wares. A man with a camera, pony, and a little cowboy outfit came regularly to take pictures of kids on the pony. Peter´s little brother Victor, age 3, wasn´t too sure what to make of the pony. Peter lived in RYV so long that his uncles, who were fighting in the Korean War, came to visit when they were on leave.

Chuck Levin only lived in RYV until he was three years old, but his mother Sylvia helped preserve his memories. She invited a photographer from the local newspaper, The Mirror to cover Chuck´s second birthday party in 1949. The United Nations had just been formed in 1948. Sylvia observed the United Nations atmosphere of the party where all the neighborhood kids attended regardless of race or religion.

The Mirror returned to RYV to photograph Chuck´s third birthday party with headline: ‘Small Fry UN: Kids´ Party Welcomes All Creeds.’ Half a dozen races and creeds were represented at Chuck´s home at 1073 Rodger Young Village. Among the excited guests were Sarah Dawson, Lester Bond, Dennis Pearce, Deri Brown, Bobby Leon, Karen Epstein, Martin Epstein, Patricia Naritomi, Doris Skiffer, John Calvin Brown, Jr. and Karen Topolnak.

The Mirror commented that ‘Sylvia Levin might have what statesmen are trying to find.’ Sylvia was quoted: ‘We want our son to see all people on the same level. We´ve always lived peacefully among people of all races and religions and we want our children to learn to treat everyone alike.’

Chuck is very proud of his mother. She came to California with only an elementary school education; however as The Mirror noted, she had plenty of wisdom. During World War II while her husband served in the Army in Italy, Sylvia worked at an aircraft factory in Los Angeles. After the war the family moved to RYV where Sylvia, now a single mom, raised Chuck and his little sister. The natural integration of the residents of RYV obviously had an impact on Sylvia who instilled a sense of civic duty in her children. Chuck expresses his current humanitarian ideals by providing food and cushions to homeless people living on the streets.

After the war a new slogan was circulating around the country: ‘Old enough to fight; old enough to vote.’ The 26th Amendment to the US Constitution passed in record time lowering the age to vote from 21 to 18. Chuck became a deputy Registrar of Voters to sign up all those new potential voters. (He still has that card!)

Chuck asked his mother to help him in the summer of 1973. She too became a deputy Registrar of Voters and went to work signing up people to vote. And she never stopped; she actively registered voters until she died in 2009 at the age of 92. She registered more voters than anyone else in Los Angeles County. As a matter of fact, Sylvia Levin registered more voters than anyone else in the country! 47,000! She is scheduled to be honored by Councilmember Paul Koretz with the dedication of Sylvia Levin Democracy Square near Canter´s Deli.

There was a high turnover rate in RYV as vets found homes elsewhere. The Levins left after a few years to share a home on Western Avenue with their former RYV neighbors, a Black family. By 1953 the federal Housing and Home Finance Office declared the housing emergency over. The Recreation and Park Commission extended the lease to RYV until 1954 on the condition that they accept no new residents. But the final blow to the village was the coming of the new freeway which would run right through RYV. Rodger Young Village was formally closed on March 14, 1954.

Do you know anyone who lived in RYV? We would love to hear from them about their experiences. Please contact us at: newsletter@friendsofgriffithpark.org.

~Marian Dodge, FoGP Board Member

Photo: The sheer size of Rodger Young Village can only be appreciated from above, as indicated by this image post WWII.

Like a good character actor, Travel Town has played many different roles throughout its existence in Griffith Park. And like any good character actor, it is sometimes tapped to play the good guy and sometimes the bad guy, but in every play or film, its role is critical to the success of the project.

You are all familiar with today’s Travel Town. Located in the northwest section of Griffith Park, it’s full of historic trains. It’s where you take your kids for birthday parties and to ride the train that runs around its perimeter.

Travel Town did not always have such a joyful role.

One of its earliest roles was that of a Prison Farm. From 1917 to 1920, the Los Angeles Police Department operated the camp as a progressive experiment to reduce recidivism. Boys who had fallen out with the law were given training and worked jobs that would give them skills to get a job when they were released and hopefully stay out of trouble. They grew alfalfa to feed the Fire Department horses, but soon horses were being replaced by trucks with engines so there was little need for alfalfa.

During the Depression the barracks from the Prison Farm were used to house men in President Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). There were two camps in this area. One was at Travel Town. The other one, located where LA Live Steamers is now, was washed out when the LA River flooded in 1938. The camps could house 500 to 700 men.

The men who worked in the CCC and Work Progress Administration (WPA) programs were responsible for much of the Park infrastructure that you see today. They built miles of trails and roads. A statue “Spirit of the CCC” in Travel Town honors these men.

The federal government had a variety of facilities in the area from 1939 to 1947. The Army Corps of Engineers built a Hydraulic Model Yard on 15 acres where LA Live Steamers is now located. Not part of the war effort, it was to study the flow of water in the LA River in order to design flood control measures.

Tucked in south of the old CCC camp and the Hydraulic Model up against the hill was the 19-acre Camouflage Experimental Laboratory and Yard. The nearby Photo Experimentation Laboratory produced a few Army training films.

Then came World War II and Travel Town took a more sinister role. Even before Pearl Harbor, the FBI had been monitoring certain Japanese that they thought might have seditious leanings — Buddhist priests, Shinto priests, judo teachers, Japanese language teachers.

After Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt issued Presidential Proclamation 2525 authorizing the arrest and imprisonment of immigrant Japanese considered threats to national security. Some of these individuals were confined in the Griffith Park Internment Camp, which made use of the former CCC camp and its facilities.

The Japanese were not the only ones targeted. Presidential Proclamation 2526 addressed German enemy aliens and Presidential Proclamation 2527 addressed Italian enemy aliens.

One Los Angeles family’s ordeal

Eugen Banzhaf came to America in 1927 as a sales representative for Stahl Union, a large German steel company. He had a Ph.D. in political science and a degree in civil engineering. He brought his lovely bride Emmy to the US in 1929. Later he became an independent sales agent for Stahl Union in Los Angeles.

Eugen dealt primarily with sheet piling used in harbor walls in New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Their daughter Sigrid was born in 1937 in Los Feliz. Her parents had applied for US citizenship. During his business trips back to Germany, Eugen had noticed the shocking changes that had taken place. They were reluctant to visit Germany, but grandma really wanted to see her new granddaughter.

War in Europe broke out in 1939 while the Banzhafs were in Germany. Eugen was able to finagle passage to New York on an Italian ship. The liner was packed with refugees frantically fleeing Nazi policies — artists, intellectuals, Jews, homosexuals and businessmen.

As soon as the ship entered international waters, the French boarded the ship and removed all German men, including Eugen, and sent them to a concentration camp in North Africa. German women and children were sent back to Germany. Sigrid saved her mother; Emmy was the sole caregiver of a two-year-old American citizen so she was allowed to stay on the ship.

Upon her return, Emmy immediately contacted a friend who reached out to Senator Alben W. Barkley. Through diplomatic channels Barkley was able to negotiate Eugen’s release a year later.

The family’s joy was not to last. On December 7, 1941 FBI agents arrested Eugen under PP 2526 at his home on N. Edgemont Street. Since steel was a valuable war materiel, he was considered a risk. Eugen was sent first to Terminal Island Federal Prison and later transferred to Tuna Canyon, another former CCC camp, then to the camp at Griffith Park and finally to Stringtown, Oklahoma. His business assets were confiscated and never returned; his personal assets were also confiscated and held in custody by the government.

Emmy was forced to move to an apartment on Vermont Ave. She was unable to get a job because no one would hire a German woman whom they feared might be a saboteur. She was often spat upon on public transportation so Emmy spoke infrequently to hide her German accent.

Eugen was paroled two years later, but the damage had been done. The stress of the entire experience sent Emmy to the hospital a couple of times. With time, Eugen started a new business, and the family was able to return to Los Feliz where Eugen and Emmy lived until their deaths.

The Banzhaf family never discussed their father’s internment. As a grandmother, Sigrid realized that although most Americans were aware of the internment of Japanese Americans en masse, few were aware of the internment of individual Germans and Italians. She wrote the script for a short film, “Black & White” directed by her son Frederick E. O. Toye. The film highlights the effects of the war years on the children and grandchildren of internees.

In July 1943, the Griffith Park Internment Camp was briefly repurposed as a prisoner of war processing station, but because it was used so little, the station was abandoned after less than a month.

Uncovering another family history

Russell Endo, a retired professor of Asian American studies and sociology at the University of Colorado, has been researching the wartime arrest and imprisonment of enemy aliens in Southern California. Some of his work focuses on Griffith Park and on the Tuna Canyon Detention Station in Tujunga, where his grandfather, Heigoro, was held.

Most of the internees at Griffith Park, including Eugen Banzhaf, were transferred from Tuna Canyon. Professor Endo created a 30-minute video for Tadaima, an annual virtual multi-week program about the wartime experiences of Japanese Americans. His video describes what happened to enemy aliens, using as an example the Japanese communities in Santa Barbara County and the Tuna Canyon detention camp.

One of the things conveyed in Professor Endo’s video is the distinction between what happened to enemy aliens and another wartime tragedy with similar characteristics: the later mass incarceration of West Coast Japanese Americans, including American citizens, authorized by President Franklin Roosevelt under Executive Order 9066.

Here is one family’s story, recounted from memories by someone who lived through the upheaval

Ten-year-old June Aochi was living with her parents near Hoover St. and Temple St. when the war broke out. Born here, she was a U.S. citizen. Her father, Chujiro Frank Aochi, who came to America in 1899, had a gardening business. Her mother Kei laundered costumes for the Drunkard Theatre in Hollywood. Neither parent was a citizen.

When June’s entire family was rounded up, they were sent to the detention center at the Santa Anita race track where they were housed in stables. Internees there were making camouflage cloth. A fire broke out in the fabric and June remembers everyone running to escape the flames. (We hope the Camouflage Lab in Griffith Park was developing nonflammable fabric!)

Later June’s family was transferred to Camp Rohwer in Arkansas, since there was great fear about having Japanese living close to the Pacific Coast. Her parents put smiles on their faces and said, “We’re going on a train ride. Won’t that be fun?!” They did their best to shield their children from the horror of what was happening to the Japanese.

June’s 16-year-old brother Yas was a “train car monitor” on the Zephyr train. He was allowed to get off at stations and would buy candy and snacks for the other detainees. They ate delicious food in the fancy new Zephyr dining car. In the evening, Yas hung out in the rear of the train with the porters and cooks — all Blacks. They would move furniture out of the way, bring out musical instruments and play music and dance.

Internees were advised to wear brown boots in camp. June didn’t want ugly brown boots; she wanted white majorette boots! When she got to Rohwer, she met Takayo Fischer, also 10 years old, who had asked her mother for a baton. With a book she ordered from Sears Roebuck, Takayo taught herself and June baton twirling. Majorettes were very popular in the camps; June thinks it was a good way to keep girls occupied.

Takayo later went to Hollywood where she played numerous small parts in films such as Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End with Johnny Depp. The two women are best friends to this day.

There was a small upside to the camps. In Los Angeles, June spent her Saturdays at Japanese language school. In the camps, it was forbidden to teach Japanese so kids had their Saturdays free to play. Although she loved the free time, she now regrets that she did not learn Japanese.

As the war was coming to an end, some internees were able to leave the camps with $25 and a train ticket if they had a sponsor. But they couldn’t return to their homes on the coast because the government still feared Japanese living on the coast.

American Quakers sponsored June’s sister Kay to go to a beauty school in Michigan. Another Quaker family sponsored Yas to work at a paper factory in Chicago. He had to stand on the train all the way from Arkansas to Chicago because all the “white” seats on the train were full. Ironically, Yas was not allowed to sit in the rear car, which had plenty of empty seats, because it was the segregated car for Blacks.

After the war, the Aochi family went to Denver where father Chujiro and Yas had a Japanese confectionary store. With the Civil Rights Act of 1953, Japanese were finally able to become citizens. The entire family got their citizenship papers in Denver and returned home to Los Angeles more than 10 years after being forced to leave.

Today, June is active in the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo where she is a docent. Duncan Williams, USC Professor of Japanese Religion and Culture, has created a giant book that lists the names of 125,284 Japanese who were incarcerated in 75 sites during World War II. The book is the Ireicho or “record of consoling ancestors.” June speaks to young people to share her experiences in the camp.

Both June and Sigrid hope that by sharing their stories, people will recognize the injustice of incarcerating people solely on the basis of their nationality.

Getting on track

After World War II, Griffith Park resumed and expanded its role as one of the country’s greatest city parks.

The Griffith Park and Southern Railroad at the Riverside Drive entrance to the Park was created for children. The area changed its barracks and POW costume and got ready for its next role as Travel Town, an outdoor railroad museum in 1952.

Next door, model railroad enthusiasts developed LA Live Steamers in 1956. Both facilities have been delighting children ever since. Griffith Park was once again able to star as a place for the people to escape from urban cares.

~Marian Dodge, FoGP Board member

Photo top: Family portraits detail a happy family before WWII. During the war, Eugen was interred in various camps across the country.
A letter from Eugen to his family bears the “Censored” stamp and Emmy receives a letter authorizing her to visit her incarcerated husband.
Bottom images: June Aochi shares stories and photos with Linda Barth.

Griffith Park is one of the largest urban parks in the United States : larger than the City of Beverly Hills. Yet, with 2022 about to begin, there is no modern, adopted Master Plan for managing and using Griffith Park’s more than 4,300 acres.

Master Plans are essential : especially for open space environments such as Griffith Park. A Master Plan provides protection for the Park, guides and protects the Park’s future, and establishes a suitable, unified mission.

Without this critical guiding document, what happens to and within Griffith Park is solely determined by elected officials and the (often changing) leadership at the Department of Recreation and Parks (RAP). In the absence of a Master Plan, it is only through the constant vigilance of dedicated community members and organizations — like Friends of Griffith Park : that we can protect and defend the urban wilderness from unnecessary developments.

While there have been at least three Master Plans for the Park developed since 1968, none of them have been formally adopted. In 1968 and again in 1978, plans were drafted but sat in limbo. In 2003, under the leadership of Tom LaBonge, City Councilmember for District 4 (the District within which the Park resides), the City contracted with Meléndrez Design Partners to update the 1978 Plan. Meléndrez went about its work, including holding public meetings, in which strong support was voiced for ensuring the Park was protected as an urban wilderness.

However, the draft presented by Meléndrez to LaBonge and RAP in October 2004 and made available to the public in March 2005 was a document that has unfortunately now disappeared from the internet. The same is true for the 1968 and 1978 plans. Gone.

The 2005 Meléndrez Draft provided for substantial commercialization in and of the Park, with considerable reduction or complete elimination of much of its urban wilderness identity. Community organizations and individual community members were appalled. The strong public opposition efforts of individuals including Gerry Hans, Bernadette Soter, Charles Soter, and many others pushed elected and appointed public officials to find another path forward. By the end of 2005, LaBonge worked to establish the Griffith Park Working Group.

The work undertaken by the Working Group was extremely intense, as these volunteers logged in hundreds of hours, and financed research independently. However, the then-RAP personnel became disenchanted with the process and stopped providing the Working Group with professional assistance, and dismissed requests for help. Despite this, the Working Group continued forward and ultimately produced a Draft Master Plan for Griffith Park.

The Draft Master Plan embodied the broad public desire to retain Griffith Park as an urban wilderness and provide available outdoor experience for passive and active Park users. When the Draft Plan was submitted to RAP, the Working Group hoped for continued collaboration and cooperative decision-making. A comprehensive and unified Master Plan for Griffith Park could have set a new standard for urban wilderness parks across the county.

It was not to be.

Eighteen months after submitting its draft, the Working Group received back a highly edited document entitled a “A Vision Plan for Griffith Park.” Rather than move forward in collaboration, working with the community to generate a Master Plan establishing enforceable development rules for the Park, RAP undercut the Working Group’s efforts by simply renaming the product.

Little, if any, thanks were extended to the private citizens who gave hundreds of hours and their own financial resources to work on the project. Instead, the Working Group was informed their work was unacceptable. Contrary to what they had been told throughout the long three-year period of writing the Plan, RAP now informed the Group that any Master Plan would need to incorporate environmental review and complete environmental plans.

A Vision Plan is not a Master Plan. It contains broad philosophical goals, goals easily forgotten when convenient. In the absence of an enforceable Master Plan, the issues regarding development such as the LA Zoo expansion and the aerial tram, among others, will proceed unchecked.

When adopted by the RAP Commission on January 8, 2014, the commission inserted an additional insult : drop “Plan” completely, thus eliminating any confusion regarding a lack of environmental review. RAP also established a Griffith Park Advisory Board (GPAB). GPAB is composed of individuals appointed by RAP for membership. When it began work on November 20, 2014, two of the Working Group members survived RAP scrutiny and were able to serve on GPAB. And while “A Vision”generally seeks to uphold and support the urban wilderness identity of the Park, it remains beholden to RAP and elected officials. It does not carry any of the authority and power that would be found in an adopted Master Plan.

Time has now passed. There is still neither a Master Plan (following adoption of “A Vision”) nor any indication of revising a Master Plan in the years to come. Since the Park comprises over 4,300 acres of essentially undeveloped land, there is always a new proposal for using up some of that urban wilderness for one commercial venture or attraction or another.

In the absence of a Master Plan, the supporters of the urban wilderness and current passive and active recreational opportunities available through Griffith Park must be constantly vigilant, aware of, and responsive to the various pockets of commercialization and development being proposed.

Residents must continue to exercise their voices, time, and effort, as did the volunteers who made up the Working Group decades ago, to protect and ensure that Griffith Park remains accessible as an urban wilderness experience, open and accessible to all.

~Valerie Vanaman is engaged in public interest law; she founded Vanaman German LLP, the first law firm specializing in representing students in education matters. Valerie was an active member of the Master Plan Working Group and is currently on the Friends of Griffith Park Advisory Board.

Over the years Griffith Park has responded to urgent national and local housing needs. During the Great Depression the Park housed CCC camps to give jobs and homes to thousands of unemployed men from across the country. After World War II the current zoo parking lot became a Quonset hut Rodger Young Village to house soldiers and their families returning from the war. Currently the Park is hosting a Bridge Housing facility to provide shelter until permanent housing can be located for the unhoused. The Park was also the site of RV units for the unhoused under the RoomKey program. Noble causes all.

However in 1941 Griffith Park had the ignominious distinction of becoming a detention facility. The Griffith Park Internment Camp, run by the U.S. Army, was located in the old CCC Camp Riverside where Travel Town is today. After Camp Riverside was closed, the army used it as a recreational facility for soldiers. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the old CCC barracks was secured to house Issei “enemy aliens.” This facility was surrounded by double fences eight feet high topped with barbed wire. The FBI arrested 35 Issei on immigration violations such as expired visas. Most of the men were fishermen on Terminal Island whose real “crime” was that they were Japanese who worked near army and naval installations and were thus assumed to be a threat. On February 21, 1942, 77 Issei were transferred to the Griffith Park Detention Camp. The camp also held some German and Italian nationals. From there they were transferred to other internment camps such as Ft. Lincoln in North Dakota.

The Uno family’s father disappeared on December 7, 1941. They had no idea what had happened to him until they got an anonymous phone call three weeks later; he might be one of 300 men at the Griffith Park Detention Facility. The family took bags of essential items, yelled outside the fence, and tossed them over the fence to him. A later anonymous phone call told the family to go to the Glendale train station. They packed bags of food and were able to say good-bye to their father as he waited in line to board a train for another internment camp.

The Griffith Park Detention Facility continued to play many roles during the war. In July 14, 1942, it became a POW processing site for Japanese, German and Italian prisoners. In August, 1943, this area became the Army’s Western Corps Photographic Center and Camouflage Experimental Laboratory. In 1947 after the war, this site was returned to the Park.

One Los Angeles Family’s Story

Sixteen-year-old Takashi Hoshizaki was a student at Belmont High School. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he was active in Boy Scout Troop 33 and especially enjoyed the camping. He helped his dad in his grocery store in the Virgil District. Like most boys, as soon as he turned sixteen, he got his drivers license. This meant he could help his dad by making deliveries to customers. He frequently had to haul 100-pound sacks of rice up several flights of stairs to clients. It was tough work, but it made him strong. Takashi was enamored with aviation. He loved flying model airplanes and was even designing his own model planes.

On Sunday morning December 7, 1941, Takashi went to a large model airplane meet at Western and Rosecrans. When he returned home he learned of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The next day when he returned to Belmont High School, there was no anger expressed toward the Japanese students. Many had been friends since their days at Dayton Heights Elementary School which had a very diverse student body. The FBI picked up several friends’ fathers, some school teachers and a Japanese principal because they were considered community leaders. Japanese families had to move out of the Terminal Island neighborhood; they sought relatives because word was out that they would be moved by areas and they wanted their family to stay together.

His dad declared that Japan would lose the war because they lacked the resources to win. Nevertheless, he started preparing. Because his father had to close his store, they sold and trucked much of their groceries to another retailer east of the Civic Center. His mother, an excellent seamstress, converted her desk sewing machine to a portable so she could take it with her. A neighbor stored personal items they couldn’t take to the camps in a small warehouse he had on the back of his property. Takashi’s father leased their house to the elementary school principal for three years. That protected their property and the warehouse. He bought boots and canteens for the entire family.

On the day they left home, they gathered at the Hollywood Independent Church for an unknown destination which turned out to be the Pomona fairgrounds. Takashi volunteered to work in the mess hall serving food and washing dishes. The facility served 2100 people at each meal, about 300 per seating. The head cook was Nob, a chef at the LA Country Club, a Nisei (son of a Japanese immigrant). When they were sent to , the same mess hall group stayed together. The community helped each other in the camps. They had baseball games and talent shows.

One very hot day, their neighbors visited them at the detention camp in Pomona. The Marshalls, a Black family, had lived in the neighborhood for years and were very well-liked. They had a son Tak’s age so they grew up together. The Marshalls ran a catering business. They brought the Hoshizakis an apple pie — not just an apple pie, but pie a la mode. The ice cream was a welcome treat on the hot day. The Hoshizakis never forgot the special effort the Marshalls made to bring them ice cream. The Marshalls also kept an eye on their property while they were incarcerated.

In August, 1942, a large group of detainees was shipped by train to Heart Mountain. The Black staff on the train sympathized with the Japanese and made sure they got lots of food, too much food, in fact. To Boy Scout Takashi the wide open spaces of Wyoming looked like a great place to go camping when he first stepped off the train. However it was windy and dusty so his sisters were constantly sweeping. He worked the morning shift in the mess hall and went to school in the afternoon where he completed his high school education. His father worked in the poultry yard raising chickens.

Young men in the camp were required to complete a “Loyalty Questionnaire.” Were you loyal to the United States? Yes. Would you serve in the army in a segregated unit? No. So he became a “Yes-No boy.” When he got a notice to report for a physical, he simply didn’t show up. There were 63 resisters in the camp who refused to comply with the draft notice because the internment camps had violated their civil rights and they would be serving in a segregated unit. They were arrested, tried solely on refusing the draft, and sent to the federal penitentiary at McNeil Island in the Puget Sound. Even in prison Takashi made the best of the situation. He took correspondences courses in math and learned to play the piano from a Black inmate. President Truman later pardoned all 63 resisters. Much later in the 1960s he would get positive feedback when people learned he had been a resister.

Back home his family had gotten their house back after the war thanks to the watchful eyes of the principal and the Marshalls. Takashi enrolled in Los Angeles City College where he met his wife Barbara, a Chinese American, in a botany class. He got his masters degree at UCLA. When the Korean War began in 1950, he was still young enough to be drafted. Since his civil rights had been restored, he and several other young resisters signed up. With all the science classes he had at UCLA, he was assigned to the medical corps.

After the Korean War, Takashi pursued his PhD at UCLA where he studied circadian rhythms and wrote a proposal for NASA on the effect it would have on astronauts. He went to work at Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he developed the concept of growing plants in space to feed astronauts. His beloved wife Barbara died in 2012, but Takashi still lives in East Hollywood near his father’s old store. Takashi is very active in the Heart Mountain Wyoming Interpretive Center.

~Marian Dodge, FoGP Board member

Photo, above: The Hoshizaki family after arriving at the Heart Mountain detention camp. Takashi Hoshizaki is standing, second from left
Cover photo: Takashi visits the former detention camp

Barbara Hoshizaki and Fern Dell

When Friends of Griffith Park was seeking a fern expert to help with the restoration of Fern Dell, we received high recommendations for Barbara Hoshizaki, president of the International Fern Society. She was the right person for the project, a world-renowned expert who had previously worked on a 1960s renovation of the Fern Dell plants. Barbara also penned “Fern Dell Specific Treatment Recommendations.”

In addition to multiple consultations with FoGP, she graciously donated hundreds of cuttings from her own fern collection to plant in Fern Dell. These ferns are currently being propagated by Jorge Ochoa’s horticulture students at Long Beach City College for future planting in the dell.

More on Barbara’s Fern Dell Restoration work can be found here.

Griffith Park is steeped in history. Whether one is strolling around Fern Dell, exploring the ruins of the Old Zoo, or riding the carousel, a visitor to the Park is immersed in an environment that harkens to the past while it simultaneously enriches the experience of the present.

There is, however, one slice of Griffith Park’s history that is largely unknown to the public, the Commonwealth Nursery. Situated in a canyon at the northernmost border of Commonwealth Avenue, the remnants of Commonwealth Nursery endure, revealing just a glimpse of a majestic nursery that was, according to accounts in The Los Angeles Times, “made larger than any municipal undertaking of its kind in the country.”

The nursery was officially established on May 26, 1928, around the same time that Roosevelt Golf Course was created, and approximately two years before the official opening of the Greek Theatre. The nursery operated on nearly 12 acres of land and produced 500,000 plants within its first year. Its purpose was clear: to locally produce all the trees, shrubs, and flowers for city parks and public buildings and according to The Times, makes “Griffith Park one of the largest gardens of native flowers and shrubs in the world.”

These were admirable goals, and the nursery was well-equipped to achieve them. Fully staffed from the onset with 19 men from the Los Angeles Parks Department as it was known then, 26 W.P.A. men and women workers, and with chief propagator Joseph Kladler at the helm, the nursery expanded its capacity every year and produced between one and two million plants annually during its heyday.

Fortunately, hundreds of thousands of these plants were our very own native plants of Griffith Park, such as rhus, ceanothus in variety, fremontias, manzanita, barberries, mimulus, prunus, rhamnus and others. In one planting bed alone, 75,000 coast live oaks were growing from locally collected acorns, a sight which astonished and amazed the 500 park employees who attended the nursery’s official grand opening in 1928.

The nursery featured acres of growing beds, a one-acre lath house, a general office, a caretaker’s cottage, a research library, storage rooms for bulbs and tubers, bins for materials, a manufacturing area for pots, and two large greenhouses. The design of the greenhouses was ahead of its time, as it captured rainwater from the roof and stored it in a great underground tank for use six months out of the year rather than relying on municipal water.

While contemporary concerns have made rainwater harvesting and water conservation a large priority in Los Angeles, it is now evident that Commonwealth Nursery operated with a sustainability ethic long before the more recent green movement. Unfortunately, water conservation was not always a priority outside the nursery, as simultaneous plans were being made to establish an extensive network of irrigation throughout the entire Park that would give the recently planted native plants the irrigation and care that is commonly given to a modern lawn, artificially increasing the rainfall of the Park by 400%. Luckily, this costly and unsustainable endeavor was never fully realized, while plant propagation at the nursery continued to flourish.

In addition to plant production, the nursery also supported a robust horticulture education program whereby interested individuals could apprentice at the nursery to learn from experts and work their way up into the Park department. During its first official year of operation, there were 12 apprentices participating in the program.

As the years went by, the nursery continued to offer horticulture education and operated as a training ground for Recreation and Parks grounds maintenance staff, as well as providing a site for schoolchildren to learn about horticulture and native flora.

Yet despite the public benefit that the Commonwealth Nursery provided to Griffith Park and Los Angeles as a whole, the entire horticulture program ended in the 1970s after the passage of Proposition 13. Budget cuts made supporting the facility and its staff untenable and as a result, the nursery fell into great disrepair.

Today, walking around the site of old Commonwealth Nursery, one sees dilapidated remnants of the buildings and once striking structures. Growing grounds have made way for asphalt parking lots and holding yards for park maintenance vehicles, shuttle buses, dumpsters, and equipment. Two greenhouses are slowly collapsing with massive downed eucalyptus limbs caving in its roofs. The lath house is no longer visible, and a system of tattered shadestructures remains in its place. The nursery office, research library, storage rooms and materials bins have been repurposed as offices and storage facilities.

The millions of plants that once lined the ground on the entire 12 acres are mostly gone, leaving behind tangles of weeds, occasional pot-bound palm trees, escaped bamboo thickets, and overgrown bougainvillea.

Yet in the face of all this, one can still sense the latent vibrancy of the people and plants that once animated the site during the glory days of the nursery. The excitement of designing and innovating, the fervor of transplanting and potting, the joy of teaching and learning, and the quiet energy of millions of plants growing, are echoed with every step of the site. Fortunately, as a result of the infusion of Prop K funds — thanks to the joint venture of the Department of Recreation and Parks and the LA Parks Foundation — a portion of the nursery will soon be renovated, and the enchantment of Commonwealth Nursery will once again become a reality for an entire new generation of Angelenos.

Currently, the nonprofit Grown in LA has established an initial proof-of-concept native plant nursery on the site, restoring the original goal of the nursery to grow the plants that benefit our parks, create habitat for our local wildlife, and provide an opportunity for horticulture and ecology education. Many plants grown at the nursery have already been earmarked for various habitat enhancement projects within Griffith Park, such as the Bird Sanctuary and Anza Native Garden restorations spearheaded by Friends of Griffith Park.

If you’d like to support the reinvigoration of plant propagation at Commonwealth Nursery, please contact Katherine.pakradouni@growninla.org.

Let’s see what we can grow together!

~Katherine Pakradouni

Katherine Pakradouni has enjoyed Griffith Park for much of her life and is fortunate to be giving back to the Park by growing California native plants at Commonwealth Nursery with nonprofit Grown in LA. Prior to her work with Grown in LA, Katherine worked for four years at the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants where she was able to inspire others to garden using our local, habitat-supportive flora.

Look for Friends of Griffith Park …
We’re in booths 46-47 — Come on over and say hi!

First of all, over 6,000 people attended the P-22 Day Festival last year, and thousands more attended events throughout Urban Wildlife Week in the leadup to P-22 Day.

The P-22 hike group, led by Beth Pratt from National Wildlife Federation into Park Central will open the festivities, and if you’ve not witnessed this trek into Park Central in the past, it’s quite inspiring. The group hikes from Agoura Hills and is joined by students from various area schools for the last leg of the hike. Tracked virtually by people worldwide, this journey from the birthplace of P-22 illustrates how the promise of connectivity is integral not just for the future of mountain lions, but for all wildlife such as salamanders, birds and even butterflies.

Organizations attending the Oct. 19th event include National Wildlife Federation, National Park Service, Friends of Griffith Park, Santa Monica Mountains Conservatory, Mountain Recreation and Conservation Authority, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, Baker Group : plus many more organizations and individuals.

This community-wide festival honors the world’s most famous mountain lion who entered Griffith Park in 2012 and includes over 100 exhibitors, a virtual reality cinema, rock-climbing wall, children’s art activities, and much more! Ranger Rick and “P-22” will be making appearances, along with many other special surprise guests.

You can also dance to live music from 3rd Rock Hip Hop and other cool bands… a very exciting day for each and everyone who attends!