Pedal boats are expected to return to MacArthur Park next year, bringing back a longtime attraction as the city looks to draw more families and activity to the park.
The Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks aims to have the watercraft on the lake before fall 2027, and possibly sooner, said General Manager Jimmy Kim. A firm opening date has not been set as the department determines what infrastructure needs to be repaired or built at the park.
“We want to make sure that all of the compliance requirements are in place, because we haven’t had boating there in such a long time,” Kim said.
Unlike in the past, the department would not run the rental operation, and the city is negotiating with a vendor interested in operating the service, Kim said.
The city would handle some repairs, including making sure the existing dock is usable. Absent from the park is an adequate boathouse, so a new rental stand or similar structure would need to be set up for the operation. Other upgrades to the park are also in the works, including an iron fence that would encircle the green space.
Kim said he would like the boats to reflect the surrounding community, similar to how Echo Park’s swan boats and Hansen Dam’s duck boats have their own unique designs.
“I would love to have some type of cultural design, like Aztec, Latin-inspired pedal boats there just because of what MacArthur Park represents and the community it represents,” Kim said.
The city does not yet have a cost estimate for the infrastructure work needed to bring the boats back, but Kim does not expect the boat operation itself to have a major financial impact on the department.
The department plans to seek community input after an agreement with the vendor is signed, including on what the boats should look like.
Officials will also work through water quality testing and boating safety requirements before the boats can return. Kim said weekly water quality testing will be required and that the vendor would have to have someone trained in lifesaving techniques on site during operating hours.
“If somebody falls in accidentally, then having somebody there, they’ll be able to respond to it quickly,” Kim said.
The need for a lifeguard is not completely out of the realm of needed resources at the park. Officials estimate the lake is about 14 feet deep, and a person drowned in the water in December.
For Jerry Young, 53, who was sitting near the lake with his bicycle recently, the water itself gives him pause.
“In this water? Nasty,” Young said. “Boy, this water is nasty.”
Young said he has been coming to MacArthur Park since his early 20s and remembers when boats were still on the lake. He now lives on the Eastside but returns about once a week.
“The park was cleaner when it had the boats,” he said.
Asked whether bringing them back could help make the park feel that way again, Young was skeptical.
“They got a lot of work to do,” he said.
Young said he enjoys spending time at MacArthur Park because he likes being outside, but he wouldn’t bring his children there now.
“First of all, they have to get rid of the drugs,” Young said. “That’s first of all. They’re making the park look really bad.”
Boating has a long history at MacArthur Park, dating to when it was known as Westlake Park. The pedal boats have disappeared and returned several times over the decades. In 1997, 30 boats were brought back after roughly a decade away, with supporters arguing that recreation could help bring families back to a park struggling with drugs and crime. Recreation and Parks ultimately discontinued its city-run pedal boat operations in 2009 after years of financial losses, according to a 2011 department report.
The city sees the latest return of boating as one part of a broader effort to bring more people and activity to MacArthur Park.
“It’s not only boating, but it’s any type of activity,” Kim said. “We’re endeavoring to activate that park a lot more, working with our community members.”
Kang writes for The LA Local, a nonprofit newsroom covering Los Angeles communities.
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