More than three weeks after closing due to tremendous wind storm damage to 700 trees on Dec. 1, including a loss of 235 trees, the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanical Garden re-opened a week ahead of schedule on Monday, Dec. 26.

More than 150 workers from multiple public agencies worked with the entire Arboretum staff on the massive cleanup, as well as numerous volunteers.

The Arboretum has received tremendous community support and donations to the Arboretum Tree Fund, the single largest tree planting campaign in the garden’s history. If you would like to contribute to a new generation of trees to ensure the Arboretum is a magnificent public resource for years to come. please help with a gift online or by mail. Please make the check payable to the Los Angeles Arboretum Foundation, 301 North Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA. 91007. To make a donation by phone, please call Brittany Fabeck in the Development Office at 626.821-3237. Please include “Tree Fund” on your donation.

– By Scott Hettrick

Perhaps the area most devastated by the Dec. 1 wind storm and certainly the one that will take the longest to recover was the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanical Garden.

Arboretum CEO Richard Schulhof and Superintendent Timothy Phillips said the Arboretum is closed indefinitely, probably at least three weeks. About half the trees and plants in the 127-acre garden were impacted, many permanently lost. Roads and walking trails must be cleared. Power lines were uprooted and remain exposed.

Amazingly, there was almost no damage to any of the historic buildings at the Arboretum.

The day after the storm, the two executives took ArcadiasBest.com on a tour of the facility. A four-minute video of that tour and their comments along the way is below:

Bonita Skate Park, located on Second Avenue and Huntington Drive in Arcadia, will revise hours of operation for the fall school year starting Tuesday, August 30, 2011.
The new hours are:

• Monday through Friday, 3 p.m. – 10 p.m.
• Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. – 10 p.m.

For school holidays and winter and spring breaks, the hours will be 8 a.m. – 10 p.m..

Bonita Skate Park  is 10,700 square feet of fun for skateboarders and in-line skaters who want an advanced park in which to practice and perfect their skills.  For more information please call 626.574.5113.

For the safety of everyone at the park, the following rules are in place for Bonita Skate Park and they will be enforced:

• All users are required to wear a helmet, kneepads and elbow pads.  Those not wearing protective equipment can be cited for an infraction and required to pay a fine.
• The park is for skateboarding and skating only.  Bicycles and scooters are not allowed.
• Additional obstacles, ramps and jumps may not be used at the park.
• No food or drink is allowed on the skating surface.  No glass is allowed in or around the skating area.
• The City of Arcadia does not assume any responsibility for injuries that occur at the park.  Skateboarding and rollerblading are hazardous recreational activities.  Participation may result in serious injury.

Protect your Skate Park from graffiti and abuse.  Report any vandalism, damage or hazardous conditions to the Recreation and Community Services Department at 626.574.5113.

The bad news is the pool at Arcadia Park will not re-open this summer, or even next summer.

The good news is that an entirely new pool and bathhouse will be built at the Los Angeles County Park, with a ribbon cutting expected in time for a grand opening in the summer of 2012.

The pool at Los Angeles County's Arcadia Park circa 1940s; photo courtesy Arcadia Historical Society

The Arcadia Park pool has been closed for nearly a month after an excess of chlorine made its way into the pool at Arcadia Park on July 19, causing the pool to be evacuated and 34 kids between the ages of 6-11 to be decontaminated, 17 of which were hospitalized, none of which suffered serious injuries.

An inspection of the pool and other County pools was ordered, with the Arcadia Park pool to remain closed until testing was concluded. A report on those findings is due Thursday. The end of the summer swim season at the pool was to be three more weeks — Labor Day, Sept. 6.

But Imee Perious, public information officer for the County Department of Parks and Recreation, told ArcadiasBest.com today that because the pool would not have re-opened until after the findings report later this week at the earliest, leaving only two or three weekends of swimming, and because it appears that at least $80,000 in repairs are needed, the County decided to keep the pool closed and get an early jump on work relating to the previously planned replacement of the pool.

That $8 million replacement project, which received funding in January, was scheduled to have a groundbreaking this fall, with construction to take 18-months, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the new pool and bath house in spring 2012. The existing bathhouse and facilities will be torn down and replaced, Perius said.

The County has been replacing pools throughout the county over the past five years. The County opened Arcadia Park in 1938. The photo above right shows the pool shortly thereafter.

The timing of the replacement of the Arcadia Park pool just after the shut down due to the chlorine incident is a coincidence, Perius said.

Kids and families who had been taking classes at the pool this summer and still had several weeks left, were notified of the pool’s closing last month.

– By Scott Hettrick

Local residents are invited to attend a new Great Outdoors Initiative created by President Obama from 3 p.m. – 7 p.m. Thursday, July 8, to suggest and hear ideas for protecting our national parks and surrounding lands, the important role they play in our local economies and communities, and reconnecting Americans to the great outdoors.

Representatives from the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, and Defense, the Environmental Protection Agency, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, National Park Service, National Parks Conservation Association, local park advocacy organizations, and citizens will attend “Listening Sessions” at Thorne Hall, Occidental College, 1600 Campus Road, Eagle Rock in Los Angeles, CA 90041.

Attendees are encouraged to RSVP by Thursday, July 1 by sending an email to sun.nelly@epa.gov with your name, the name of the organization with which you are affiliated, if any, your telephone number, and email address.

If you plan on attending and would like to meet with NPCA staff at the event, please e-mail our Pacific Regional Office at pacific@npca.org.

Below is a list of talking points specific to our region that you can print and bring with you to the event:

Talking Points
* The Los Angeles region is home to the world’s largest urban national park–Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. This national park offers more than 10 million area residents a haven to escape the traffic and smog, find healthy recreational opportunities, view wildlife, and soak in the exquisite landscape of canyons, seashores, and mountains that weave throughout the region. The National Park Service should play a greater role in bringing these opportunities to urban communities.

* The partnership programs created at Santa Monica Mountains serve as a blueprint for how to bring the “parks to the people” and connect youth with the natural world. In nearby LA County’s eastside, in communities with high obesity rates and a dearth of open space, a diverse coalition is steps away from replicating these programs through the creation of a new national recreation area. The National Park Service should be provided the resources to play a similar role in other urban areas around the country.

* The Los Angeles region contains a checkerboard of open space and developed land parcels. More federal land conservation funding, including full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), is needed to help conserve our outdoor heritage, protect wildlife, provide public access for recreation, and protect scenic vistas for the enjoyment of our children and grandchildren.

* The innovative youth employment partnerships at Santa Monica Mountains work to employ diverse youth from undeserved communities, helping the National Park Service develop a workforce for its second century that reflects the cultural diversity of our country. The program, in partnership with local school districts, hire youth as interns and helps them develop the job skills to eventually become Park Service employees. The Administration should provide the resources to expand this model in other communities.

* Many urban and rural communities have national park units in their backyards; we must ensure young people and all Americans have the opportunity to experience these places that hold our natural and cultural heritage. For example, at Santa Monica Mountains, nearly 10,000 inner-city youth have learned to grow native plants and care for restoration sites. Three out of four fifth-graders participating in a year-long learn-and-work program live in poverty and although the park is within walking distance, most had never been there before entering the program. This educational program should be replicated and funded at other national park sites across the country.