Nearly a year after Los Angeles officials approved $2.3 million to build a fence around MacArthur Park, several basic details remain unclear, including the fence’s final design and how it will change the neighborhood.
Those questions have become more pressing after the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission unanimously opposed the project in July, raising concerns about the enclosure of a park that has been a city Historic-Cultural Monument for more than 50 years.
The Department of Recreation and Parks was expected to provide an update at the MacArthur Park Neighborhood Council’s July meeting but did not attend. The department also did not respond requests for comment about the project or the Cultural Heritage Commission’s concerns.
Here’s what we know.
The Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners gave conceptual approval to the perimeter fencing project in October, earmarking $2.3 million for it. The initial proposal called for green wrought-iron fencing around both sides of MacArthur Park, with gates at eight existing entry and exit points. The department said fencing the space would allow the city better access to manage the park and oversee the property when it’s closed.
City officials said the project’s final estimated cost was unknown, as was the timing for bidding and construction.
In the last several months, the city provided a more specific timeline. Recreation and Parks General Manager Jimmy Kim told residents that installation of an approximately 8-foot fence was expected to begin this fall, followed by artistic and decorative additions through next spring. He said at a June community meeting that residents would have an opportunity to weigh in on those elements.
Kim also said the fence was not intended to remain indefinitely.
“As we stabilize the community and the neighborhood, it’s meant to also come off,” Kim said.
MacArthur Park was designated as Historic-Cultural Monument No. 100 more than five decades ago. The city’s original project report acknowledged that the fence could affect cultural resources and the park’s historic character.
On July 16, Recreation and Parks staff and a consultant from Tetra Tech presented the project to the Cultural Heritage Commission, and a month later, the commission officially opposed the project in an Aug. 17 letter to the Recreation and Park Commission.
“While the Commission is sympathetic to the Department of Recreation and Parks’ operational challenges and safety concerns, the Commission is apprehensive about the concept of closing off a civic monument to the public,” commission President Barry Milofsky wrote.
The letter also questioned what commissioners described as the fence’s “apparent permanency” and said the proposed height ranged from 8 to 11 feet in different sections.
The Cultural Heritage Commission urged Recreation and Parks to explore other options. If the city ultimately decides a physical barrier is necessary, commissioners suggested a lower and more temporary fence, pointing to the chain-link fencing installed around Echo Park in 2021 and removed two years later.
The commission also asked Recreation and Parks to return with a revised design or alternate proposal and said the project should be reviewed by the Cultural Affairs Commission.
Richard Barron, who served on the Cultural Heritage Commission for 22 years before leaving the dais this summer, said Recreation and Parks came to the commission later in the process than he normally would expect for a project affecting a historic monument.
“Recs and Park kind of just came in and said, ‘We’re gonna put up a fence and here’s what it looks like,’” Barron told the LA Local. “And it was like, ‘What? Come on.’”
Barron said the commission has limited authority over projects carried out by other city departments, despite its role in reviewing changes involving historic monuments. The Department of Recreation and Parks has not responded to the Cultural Heritage Commission’s letter, he said, or clarified whether the design has changed.
It is also unclear whether the final fence will be approximately 8 feet tall throughout the park or reach as high as 11 feet in some areas, as commissioners were told in July. And while city officials have described the fence as temporary, they have not identified an expected removal date or explained what would have to happen before it comes down.
Community involvement remains another question.
The MacArthur Park Neighborhood Council formally called for more transparency and input in March, asking to review design concepts before final plans were approved. The neighborhood council said it had not been included in the city’s discussions when the project was approved in October.
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