You may have heard that an ambitious plan is underway to rejoin the two sides of one of L.A.’s most known public parks, MacArthur Park in Westlake. But do you know why it was separated to begin with?
The origins: Before it was deemed public space, the area was actually a marsh-like wetland with a natural lake. It wasn’t appreciated by many and eventually it became an informal trash dump.
The public: As more people moved to the area, many sought to make improvements. The land ended up getting cleaned up into a public park in 1886, and the lake was artificially filled in. But all this hindered plans for what would become a major traffic artery: Wilshire Boulevard.
The bisection: The goal for Wilshire Boulevard was to make it a straight shot from downtown to Santa Monica, but in the city’s eyes, the park was in the way. Read on to learn why city leaders decided to cut through in 1934.
One of Los Angeles’ oldest green spaces, MacArthur Park, is on its way to being made whole again.
A multi-year effort has started to reconnect the 35-acre recreation area that’s currently bisected by Wilshire Boulevard. But why was the park split in half nearly a century ago?
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Why was LA’s MacArthur Park split into two?
MacArthur Park origins
Before it was public parkland, today’s MacArthur Park wasn’t a popular place. In the early days of L.A., in the 1800s, it was a marshy wetland that was dismissed as an undesirable swamp, according to historian Nathan Masters, as the land occupied a saddle-shaped depression.
The body of water was a natural alkali lake, which created a very productive ecosystem with plenty of waterfowl. That evaporated for a time in the extended 1860s drought, giving the area a bad reputation, and it prompted the public to dub the space the “Dead Sea,” according to a city planning survey.
The city tried to sell it off for a bottom-barrel price, but it failed to draw any interest. The land then went from swamp to dump as people piled trash and animal carcasses rotted away. But after Angelenos began to move to the Westlake neighborhood around it, they campaigned for improvements, and it transformed over the years.
In 1886, the area was designated as public parkland, first named Westlake Park, which took it from an eyesore to an oasis (or at least as nice as you can get for a city), complete with buggy paths, boating facilities, a bandstand for Sunday concerts, and a seal pool! (Yes, actual living seals to gawk at.)
In 1942, the city of Los Angeles changed Westlake Park’s name to what we know today, in honor of General Douglas MacArthur.
Split in two
An aerial view of Westlake Park in 1921.
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Security Pacific National Bank Collection/Los Angeles Public Library
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This aerial view, dated in 1929, shows Westlake Park with the proposed Wilshire Boulevard extension over the lake. The road extension has been artistically rendered, showing the boulevard curving across the north side of the lake.
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Spence Air Photos/Herald Examiner Collection/Los Angeles Public Library
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As L.A. grew through the decades, so did our transportation routes.
One proposal had a 70-foot boulevard-width roadway and 6-foot sidewalks, which would curve across the park and an arm of the lake. The plan, which was submitted by the Wilshire Boulevard Association around the early 1930s, would've cost approximately $250,000.
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Herald Examiner Collection/Los Angeles Public Library
There were proposals drawn up to achieve this through other means, like a $250,000 plan to build a bridge over the lake, but in the end, the city chose a cheaper option — simply extending the road, at $93,000 (equivalent to $2.1 million today).
Aerial view of MacArthur Park in 1956. The park's smaller lake, created by the split, was filled in sometime after the extension was completed.
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Howard D. Kelly/Kelly-Holiday Mid-Century Aerial Collection/Los Angeles Public Library
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The cut-through change wasn’t welcomed by all, however. The Wilshire Community Council protested the move in 1932 and residents organized to urge city leaders to stop. In October of that year, 300 residents went before the Public Works Committee of the City Council to voice a unanimous dissent.
Speakers felt the change was an unnecessary one that would destroy the park, bring traffic hazards closer to visitors, and be a “drain on the public purse.”
But the city moved forward, and in 1934, they constructed the road that took Wilshire Boulevard into the park, through the lake, to the other side. The lake was drained temporarily as teams filled in the dirt foundation.
At the time, the road it connected to was Orange Street, but it was all renamed to Wilshire later.
Today's concerns
The contentious history mirrors issues with the management of MacArthur Park today, with concerns that it isn’t well taken care of.
The city leaders spearheading the merging of the two park sides believe that closing the causeway will bring a refreshed effort to improving the park after “years of neglect.”
