Lincoln Park Gateway and Improvements - Los Angeles CA

City:: Los Angeles, CA
Site Type:: Parks and Recreation, Paths and Trails, Landscaping and Tree Planting
New Deal Agencies:: Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), Public Works Funding, Work Relief Programs, National Youth Administration (NYA)
Started:: 1932
Completed:: 1933
Quality of Information:: Good
Marked:: No
Site Survival:: Extant

Description

Improvements to Lincoln Park (Los Angeles, CA) were carried out by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) in 1932-33.

According to the 1932-33 Annual Report of the Los Angeles Board of Park Commissioners, “Two hundred lineal feet of walks were built, and 5,075 feet of redwood curbing used to define the older walks. A fire break, 1,500 feet long and 30 feet wide, was built along the north end and east side of the park, protecting the grounds from fires from adjacent vacant land. Catch basins were installed to control the water from rains that wash down from the hills surrounding the park and same connected to the main storm sewer. Many new plants were set for landscape decoration consisting of 63 young trees, 280 shrubs, and many flowering plants.”

The National Youth Administration (NYA), which was “geared to aid youth, in-school and out-of-school,” also carried out construction and design work at the park (Leader, pp. 235-36).

Of particular note is the Lincoln Park gateway, which was completed in 1933. According to the Los Angeles Conservancy, “It was funded by a municipal bond measure designed to improve parks citywide and create work for the unemployed during the Great Depression. […] The gateway features curving walls, monumental pillars, and vibrantly colored tile benches and fountains. Its Progressive Era design exemplifies the Classical Moderne/Art Deco style of the period, with sweeping lines, stylized vertical forms, and zigzag motifs.”