Griffith Park Island

Welcome to Griffith Park Island

A 1927 Fairchild Aerial photo shows the Los Angeles River with a blob of parkland on its east side. A 1930 Federal Writers' Project boundary map of Griffith Park also shows the land blob. This 28-acre parcel was part of the original Griffith Park. Stranded by the Golden State Freeway and the flood control channelization of the L.A. River, the separate piece of parkland became known as the Central Service Yard (CSY). It has been used as a service and equipment yard and has housed offices of the Recreation and Parks Department and the General Services Department. Now, the City Project is soliciting stakeholders' input on plans for the site's restoration as a multi-benefit park and green space.

As Mike Eberts observes, in Griffith Park, A Centennial History, as publicly-owned property linking metropolitan L.A. with the suburban San Fernando Valley, Griffith Park had been used since its early days in the city as a right of way for power lines and water. But it has also been viewed as a right-of-way for major highways. As early as the 1920s, Valley residents and civic groups were clamoring for a direct route between the central city and its northern suburbs. Riverside Drive's stretch from Los Feliz Boulevard through the park to the Victory Boulevard Bridge was completed, and, in 1936, this was transferred from the jurisdiction of the Park Commission to that of the Public Works Board.

By 1931 it had become clear that Riverside Drive could not handle the growing automobile traffic. A highway was proposed. But where should it be built? One suggestion put the highway west of the L.A. River, cutting through the eastern edge of Griffith Park. Some Glendale planners and politicians wanted the highway to run near San Fernando Road, through a mostly industrial part of Glendale, east of the river. In 1952 the State Highway Commission approved a freeway along the west bank of the river, in the park.

Park users, led by angry golfers, opposed a route that would destroy park land and facilities. The State Highway Department redesigned a cloverleaf in order to restore 14 acres to the Wilson Golf Course. Golfers' woes were hardly over. Eberts tells of a freeway contractor wheeling a bulldozer onto the Wilson Golf Course to tear up a green while a foursome was putting.

In 1955, the city council voted to accept the route through Griffith Park. Van Griffith sued the state for violating the stipulations of his father's gift to the city. He tried to get an injunction stopping freeway construction in the park. This was denied. His legal battle continued after the freeway opened.

Meanwhile, more than 200 acres had been taken from the park by the freeway project. Various facilities had to be relocated, and the 28 acres that make up the Central Service Yard were cut off from the rest of the park. The site is adjacent to Atwater Park (within Griffith Park) and to the Atwater Creek Restoration Project under the Bureau of Sanitation. It is also next to the Glendale-L.A. water treatment facility. Floating around are some elaborate proposals to festoon the CSY-turned-park with interpretive centers, baseball diamonds, soccer fields, promenades and picnic areas. Given the city's budget crisis, it is unlikely that the CSY will morph into a park anytime soon. However, if this does happen, the Griffith Park Task Force hopes this Griffith Park Island will be kept simple and as natural and easy to maintain as possible.