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Los Angeles Residents Strive To Reopen Downtown Park Angels Knoll

Alex Reed |
November 1, 2013 | 12:56 p.m. PDT

Staff Reporter

(Angels Knoll in film 500 Days of Summer/Creative Commons)
(Angels Knoll in film 500 Days of Summer/Creative Commons)
Residents are pushing to reopen Angels Knoll, a downtown Los Angeles park made famous in the film “(500) Days of Summer. ”

The urban pocket park with skyline views has been fenced off since August to restrict homeless loitering pending the sale of the property.

Angels Knoll is owned by the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles, which was disbanded in 2012 following a budget redistribution that forced the closure of redevelopment agencies across the state. The agency is currently being operated by a successor agency voted on by the city.

As one of several parks downtown, many workers and residents have voiced frustration about losing the green space, as well as the Community Redevelopment Agency’ failure to maintain it. Trash is picked up intermittently by downtown workers, but the grass and trees in the park have died.

Resident Chris Yamashita started an online petition on Change.org that aims to urge Mayor Eric Garcetti to allow the city to buy the park and reopen it to the public, or oversee the sale to ensure that it remains a public park.  
But purchasing Angels Knoll may not be in the city’s best interest.

Yamashita was told by the Department of Parks and Recreation that it would be difficult for the city to justify funding the maintenance of the park based on the current budget.

The agency told Yamashita that wants to market the park to private investors and also denied Yamashita’s requests to organize a volunteer clean-up effort because of insurance concerns. The agency did not respond to repeated emails for comment on this story.

However, the revitalization of Angels Knoll could be coming soon.
Garcetti recently announced the Great Streets Program, which plans to improve roads in up to 40 Los Angeles neighborhoods. The program also aims to liven up streets by adding more plazas and parks.

Garcetti’s office did not respond to calls or emails about how this new initiative might affect Angels Knoll, but Yamashita thinks it is a step in the right direction.

“It seems like a positive sign that something like the preservation of Angels Knoll might dovetail with his agenda,” said Yamashita.

Yamashita’s petition only has about 250 of the necessary 500 signatures, but he hopes to get it in front of Garcetti as soon as possible. He is awaiting response from the Garcetti’s office about setting up a time to present the issue during office hours.

Besides the petition, Yamashita also started a Facebook group where people who support reopening Angels Knoll can bring up their concerns.

Facebook group member and filmmaker Peter Bean said he is smitten with the park because it appeared in “(500) Days of Summer,” a film about an aspiring architect played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who falls for a girl who doesn’t believe in love.

Many of the couple’s pivotal conversations take place on a bench at Angels Knoll, which is Gordon-Levitt’s character’s favorite spot in the city.

“There are few magical, natural spots in downtown Los Angeles,” Bean said. “Now this magical place is at risk of becoming yet another uninspired office building for executives enjoying the fruits of the artists’ labor.”

Yamashita, who lived near the park when he first moved to Los Angeles, called Angels Knoll an “iconic place that in the movie and in real life is a spot of beauty and inspiration.”



 

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