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Los Angeles Recreation and Park Commission

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"Builders, Violet Street Playground," (Los Angeles Playground Commission annual report, 1908)

The City of Los Angeles park and playground departments, also referred to as commissions or committees, were the two municipal government agencies which managed parks and recreational facilities in Los Angeles, California, before the current Department of Recreation and Parks was chartered in 1947. The Park Department was founded with the first Los Angeles city charter in 1889. The Playground Department was founded in 1904 and was renamed the Department of Playground and Recreation in the 1925 charter.[1][2]

History

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The Los Angeles Department of Parks was organized in 1889.[3] The Los Angeles Playground Commission was organized by the city council in 1904 as an unpaid five-person commission, the commissioners had authority to hire a superintendent and staff.[4] By 1908, they had created two playgrounds, at Violet Street Park and Echo Park, and a Spanish Renaissance-style recreation center intended "offer something of what the social settlement or YMCA building furnishes."[4] Planned for 1910 were playgrounds at Hazard Playground and Slauson Avenue Playground.[4] By 1914 Downey Playground and Exposition Park Athletic Field had been established.[5][failed verification] A municipal bathhouse and a "Mexican settlement" bathhouse were established in 1915.[5][failed verification] Mrs. Leafie Sloane-Orcutt was president of the Los Angeles Park Commission from 1916 to 1920.[6] She was the first woman park commission president in the United States and the first woman park commissioner in California.[6]

Superintendent Frank Shearer and members of the Parks Commission meet at City Hall in 1927

In 1934 and 1935, the Park Commission was heavily involved in the planning for Griffith Observatory, including approving exhibits such as a seismograph, a presentation on the telescope manufacturing process, and a model of an oil field.[7] Eagle Rock Park was conceived at a 1936 meeting of the Park Commission chief and the Eagle Rock Chamber of Commerce.[8] In 1939 the Commission asked the Chief of Police to please look into removing the possibly dangerous "coyotes, foxes, wildcats and mountain lions" of Griffith Park.[9] Also that year, Van M. Griffith, whose parents Griffith J. Griffith and Tina (Mesmer) Griffith gave Griffith Park to the city, joined the Park Commission.[10]

The Park Commission oversaw the Griffith Park Zoo within Griffith Park.[11] For example, in 1938 the city council asked the Park Commission to investigate the feasibility of buying the Zoopark (formerly the Selig Zoo) collection of birds and animals for the Griffith Park Zoo.[12] In 1941 the Commission approved the establishment of a "bird fountain" in Lafayette Park to be funded in honor of Mickey Bishop, "the famous Ambassador canary."[13] Mickey Bishop was a literal canary, and the bird bath remained standing in the park until at least 1979.[14] While Encino School was under construction in 1956, the Park Commission allowed lunchtime use of Encino Park as a play area.[13]

Governance

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The five-person board of the current Recreation and Park Commission is responsible for departmental budget, staffing, contracting, leasing, purchasing and establishment of policies for Los Angeles city parks and recreation facilities.[15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "History". www.laparks.org. City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  2. ^ Goldfarb, Al (1989). "An Overview: 100 Years of Parks and Recreation" (PDF). laparks.org. John H. Ward. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  3. ^ "History". City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Stoddart, Bessie D. (1910). "Recreative Centers of Los Angeles, California". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 35 (2): 210–219. doi:10.1177/000271621003500226. ISSN 0002-7162. JSTOR 1011270. S2CID 140397775.
  5. ^ a b Annual Report of the Playground Commission, City of Los Angeles, for the Year Ending November 30, 1907. Los Angeles, California: Baumgardt Publishing Company. 1907. hdl:2027/uc1.b4093585.
  6. ^ a b "Los Angeles Woman Park Commissioner to Resign". Calexico Chronicle. Vol. XVII, no. 111. 21 December 1920. p. 4. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  7. ^ "Exhibit List Increased". The Los Angeles Times. Vol. LIV. 15 January 1935. p. 23. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  8. ^ "Eagle Rock Park Is Suggestion". The Pasadena Post (published 11 July 1936). 10 July 1936. p. 3. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  9. ^ "Mountain Lions in Los Angeles". Palos Verdes News. Vol. XI, no. 5. Palos Verdes Estates, California. 3 February 1939. p. 4. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  10. ^ "Council Votes Griffith Shift". The Los Angeles Times. Vol. LVIII. 25 April 1939. p. 18. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  11. ^ "Griffith Park Zoo family increased". The Los Angeles Times. Vol. LX. 18 May 1941. p. 46. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  12. ^ "City Makes Bid for Zoo". The Los Angeles Times. Vol. LVII. 14 October 1938. p. 25. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  13. ^ a b "Fountain approved". The Los Angeles Times. Vol. LX. 5 May 1941. p. 5. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  14. ^ Laskey, Anne (1978), Mickey Bishop bird bath, retrieved 2 June 2024
  15. ^ "Commission". City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
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