Lewis MacAdams, Who Worked To Fix The 'Tragedy' Of The LA River, Has Died At 75

Lewis MacAdams, credited for his pioneering work to reimagine the much-maligned Los Angeles River, has died at the age of 75. The Los Angeles Times reports that he died today of complication of Parkinson's disease at an L.A. healthcare facility.

We are restoring this profile from our KPCC archives when MacAdams announced his retirement.

By Adriana Cargill | Dec. 1, 2016

The Los Angeles River, once the lifeblood of the city, was encased in concrete by the Army Corps of Engineers after devastating floods in the 1930s. Before Lewis MacAdams began his work, most Angelenos were scarcely aware they even had a river. MacAdams' unique use of poetry, art and community engagement help change the ways Angelenos think about their once forgotten river.

His 30-year love affair with the river started one night in the winter of 1986 with a lot of heavy drinking. He and a few friends went down to a stretch of the river just north of downtown and cut a hole in the chain link fence, declaring the waterway "open to the people."

"When I saw the river for the first time, it was just a tragedy it was so screwed up," MacAdams, 72, said.

He asked the river if he could speak for it in the human realm and it didn't say no. From that night on, the river became his muse. He went on to create Friends of the Los Angeles River or FoLAR to advocate for it.

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At first people didn't understand why MacAdams was so bent on restoring the natural ecosystem of what many people saw as a concrete flood channel. He envisioned a more beautiful waterway that would bring people and nature together.

"When we started river clean up the first year, I called for 10,000 people to show up, and 10 showed up," MacAdams said. "But I didn't care, and people made fun of it, but I didn't care because I knew something was going on there."

Andy Lipkis, executive director of the environmental non-profit TreePeople, said MacAdams has inspired him and others who pioneered L.A.'s early environmental movement.

"Nobody has had the impact that he has had. He's not a classic leader but he is a classic visionary," Lipkis says. "We so undervalue visionaries because they're often a threat to us. They shake up our reality and have us uncomfortably see things we don't see."

In 1995, the city set about bulldozing all the vegetation in the L.A. River in the name of flood control. When MacAdams heard about it, he lay down in front of the bulldozers to stop the destruction.

He called it performance art but it led to FoLAR's first meeting with the county government. MacAdams told us:

The crowning jewel of his push to revitalize the waterway is the so-called Alternative 20 plan, passed by the Los Angeles City Council this June. It's a $1.3 billion plan to revitalize the river --removing concrete, restoring the ecosystem and creating more bike lanes and public parks.

MacAdams didn't do it alone.

The plan is the result of work by many politicians, engineers, scientists, community activists, artists and environmentalists who MacAdams energized over decades. Mayor Eric Garcetti, a former creative writing student of MacAdams, said he inspired him push hard for river revitalization in his political career.

A train crosses the Los Angeles River on November 20, 2015 in Los Angeles, California.(David McNew/Getty Images)

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When MacAdams stepped down as president of FoLAR in 2016, Marissa Christensen, the current senior policy director, took his place.

He said he's turning over the reins with regret that he couldn't have accomplished more.

"Well, we haven't gotten any concrete out yet," he said. "When we get some concrete coming out, I'll give myself the benefit of the doubt."

MacAdams insists he isn't retiring despite his recent stroke. He plans to stay on FoLAR's board and continue urging people to make their own personal connection with the river. But how?

"That's a question many people have asked me and the answer is basically just take a walk along the river and the river will tell you what to do next," he said. "It's no secret."

Currently in the planning phase is a seven-foot-tall statue of MacAdams somewhere along the river's edge. It'll be an homage to the man who has devoted his life to shaping the city's vision of the river. A poem he has written about his beloved river muse will be etched into the statue:

A version of this story originally ran on KPCC.

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