Plans to fence MacArthur Park made headlines, residents say they’re still waiting on details

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

For several months, Westlake residents have been waiting for more information about a proposed $2.3 million project to install a permanent fence around MacArthur Park. The locals want to have a voice in how the project moves forward.

“We want to ensure that this $2.3 million fence does not become yet another eyesore in our neighborhood,” residents said in a letter and sent in early March to city officials requesting more details on the project.

The letter, signed by Mireya Valencia, president of the MacArthur Park Neighborhood Council, on behalf of the council, adds that residents should help inform the design of the fence before any final plans are approved.

So far, Valencia said city officials have not meaningfully engaged with residents, pointing to a lack of routine check-ins. They were also promised conceptual renderings in January that would show what the fence would look like. Those have not materialized either.

The Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners, County Supervisor Hilda Solis and Mayor Karen Bass did not respond to requests for comment and were all addressed in the residents’ letter.

A spokesperson for Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez’s office said in a statement that Council District 1 has been a part of discussions around the proposed fence and attended a MacArthur Park Neighborhood Council meeting when the letter was drafted.

“We appreciate the MacArthur Park Neighborhood Council’s engagement on this issue and have communicated our support for an inclusive community engagement process,” Hernandez’s office said in the statement.

The office added that while the Department of Recreation and Parks is at the forefront of the effort, Hernandez’s office will “support efforts to ensure that community voices are meaningfully incorporated as the project moves forward.”

For several months, Westlake residents have been waiting for more information about a proposed $2.3 million project to install a permanent fence around MacArthur Park.

(

Gary Coronado

/

for The LA Local

)

The neighborhood council wants to know how the $2.3 million project funds would be spent and an explanation on  the project’s timeline and delays. 

Valencia said some neighborhood council members gave public comment when the project was first considered by the Los Angeles Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners last October, but felt the decision had already been made.

“Basically, we were told the fence is happening,” Valencia said. 

The fence would allow the park to close the space overnight and make it easier to maintain and secure facilities, according to what city officials told the LA Local in February.

But some residents and park users, like Josefina Portillo, a local vendor who has sold snacks and drinks in MacArthur Park for more than thirty years, said they worry the fence would make the space even more inaccessible.

Valencia, who has lived in the area for five years, said the council has yet to receive a formal response to its March letter. She added that she understands why some residents support a fence, given the park’s ongoing safety concerns for families, but said a fence alone will not address the deeper issues affecting the park, including homelessness.

“A fence is just going to push the problem somewhere else,” she said. “So instead of money being spent on fencing, I would love to see money be spent on social services.”

Mikaela Ruiz, a Westlake community member who works in the area, believes the fence proposal was created by people who don’t understand all the meaningful interactions that take place at MacArthur Park.

“If you go to MacArthur Park on a regular Saturday, you still see families interacting with the park,” Ruiz said. “You still see the kids football games in the summer, you still see the Levitt Pavilion having shows and events.” 

Westlake residents want to have a voice in how the project moves forward.

(

Gary Coronado / For The LA Local

)

Ruiz said the city should focus on what she sees as a fentanyl crisis happening at the park and services for unhoused people. She added that she doesn’t believe a fence would make the area feel any safer.

“What we’ve taken from the fences that Karen Bass decided to put on Sixth Street is that they just accumulate the trash,” Ruiz said. 

Valencia said meaningful community engagement would mean city officials change how and when they reach out to local residents.

“I would like to see proactive community engagement instead of reactive community engagement,” Valencia said. “Again, they come to our meetings after the decision has been made and after we write these letters, but they’re not asking us what we think beforehand.” 

If the fence does move forward, Valencia said she hopes it reflects the community and does not make the park feel closed off, pointing to the fence that the Frida Kahlo theater nearby has, as being more welcoming.

“I would love to see it incorporate artwork and our culture somehow,” Valencia said. “I would hate to see it blemished by an ugly carceral fence.”