Tag Archive for: echo park lake rehabilitation project

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Five awesome things about the new Echo Park Lake

Earlier this month, we shared some excellent news on Twitter and Facebook – Echo Park Lake will be officially and finally opening to the public on June 15! Although this is about a month later than we expected, the project is on time and under budget at $45 million (originally $85 million).

At a news conference/media preview of the lake earlier this month, elected officials and project heads shared thoughts on the project: “This has been an iconic setting for film, for literature, for art, for countless movies,” said L.A. mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti. “And like the surrounding neighborhood the park has fallen on some tough times. But the true beauty of Echo Park is reflected not just Echo Park itself, this lake, but the entire community here today.”

When the gates do open at Echo Park Lake on June 15, we think everyone will like the changes. Here are our top five favorite things about the new Echo Park Lake:

 1) The new Lotus bed

The Lotus bed is back in its original location

Back in its original spot, the Lotus bed started getting greener just last month when the Lotus leaves popped up above the water level. While the netting will remain over the plants for about a year to prevent birds from eating all the new plants, the Lotus blossoms have started to bloom, about a year ahead of schedule!

2) The Boathouse will be back

As soon as the city decides on what vendor to bring in (we vote for Homegirl Cafe!!), the boathouse will not only be a fully operating kitchen, it will also support the peddle boats once again! At next year’s Lotus Festival, the dragon boats will also launch off of the Boathouse’s deck.

3) The Boardwalks/Observation decks

There are two boardwalk-style structures around the lake that act as observation decks – one on the north end is a large wooden deck overlooking wetlands, the other on the West end is a concrete deck. Both have benches and some signage on the information of the lake, and are definitely going to be the coveted spots to chill.

Boardwalk on the North end of the Lake

Boardwalk on the West end of the Lake

4) The birds return!

Bird protecting its nest!

Although the number of birds declined at last December’s bird count, over the years there have been over 70 species of birds counted at the lake. Now that there is plenty of water and potentially lots of food, we expect a number of them to return – in fact at the media preview this month, we spied one with its next just at the shore!

5) The Festivals

The number one question we get asked every year is when the Lotus Festival and when the Cuban Music Festival will be celebrated at the Lake. Unfortunately this year there will be no festivals as the new sod needs some time to establish. But next year we can count on the famous dragon boat races and more!

Lotus Festival in 2011

Want to see more photos of the Lake? Click here to visit our Facebook album.

See you at the grand opening at June 15!

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Behind the fence: Tour of Echo Park Lake construction

About 100 interested locals (including politicians, volunteers, and candidates) spent the morning in LA City hard hats amongst the dust and debris behind the fence of Echo Park Lake. Guided in small groups by project manager Marlon Calderon, our 9:00 am group (the first one!) got a close-up look of the North side of the Lake where Lady of the Lake statue will stand, the “boardwalk” alongside the wetlands and bridge, and the Boathouse – inside and out.

The project is about 60% complete, and come February, it should be full with water. The 60 construction workers are working on Saturdays to beat the rainy season, which will hopefully just fill the lake up naturally without any help from the city water sources. Our guide Calderon mentioned that with the Lake being the lowest point in the Silver Lake / Echo Park area, 26 million gallons of water can fill the lake in three hours – so there shouldn’t be any issues getting the water in there.

The Lake’s historic and widely known bridge

The Lotus plants will actually be planted in the next two months – a “berm” (like an under water dam) surrounding the Lotus bed on the North side of the Lake will keep all the water for that area in.

While many trees were removed due to disease, there are 400 trees currently being maintained and watered, and 200 more are expected to be added before the Lake’s grand opening in Spring 2013.

The Boathouse has yet to have an official concessions company, but the kitchen is high-end and fully stocked (leaving many of us to hope for something along the lines of Homegirl Cafe taking over). They’ll also be adding in a new boat dock, while bringing up the entire Boathouse to compliance to make it fully functional (that means paddle boats, people!).

More photos and info after the jump!

Read more

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Old wagon wheel found entombed in Echo Park Lake

Image via the LA Times

Of the official list of things found at the bottom of Echo Park Lake during the rehabilitation project (which we published last November), some of the stranger items included a payphone and a parking enforcement boot, along with a couple of guns and knives. But during the past few months of the Lake rehabilitation project, construction workers have been digging up the bottom of the mucky lake bed, and moving enough dirt that they’ve unearthed something from Echo Park’s history.

From the Sunday LA Times, a fascinating story on the uncovering of a rusty 1880s-era wagon wheel by a construction worker digging with a backhoe last May. Now, Echo Park Lake was established as a park in the 1890s, but the lake had been there for some time and served as a reservoir for the surrounding farms and ranches. In the LA Times story, experts determined – after some speculation about its authenticity, and if it was from a farm wagon or a stagecoach wagon – that it was indeed a farm wagon wheel.

It may not be the most ground-breaking thing to find buried in the lake, but it is incredibly fascinating. It’s a glimpse into the history of Echo Park, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, and what it was like before the roads were paved, before the neighborhood was built, and before we were a city.

It would be great to have all of the items pulled from the lake bed up for display!

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