Historic Designation of Griffith Park

Dear Friends,

Thank you to everyone who wrote to me regarding the historic designation of Griffith Park.

I whole-heartedly embraced this designation in my testimony before the Cultural Heritage Commission. I am a preservationist and have supported preservation initiatives throughout the 4th District.

To research how historic designation would impact Griffith Park, I visited Balboa Park in San Diego, where the buildings are designated but not the entire park. I also visited Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and Washington Park in Portland, Oregon. I spoke at length with park personnel about managing historic resources. It was great to see and learn about these dynamic urban parks.

I also called many meetings with city staff: the Office of Historic Resources, the Department of Recreation and Parks, the Department of Water and Power and other agencies. We discussed how historic designation would effect day-to-day park management and emergencies such as fires and fire recovery.

This research confirmed the wisdom of historic designation. I hope the designation will help to protect and preserve Griffith Park beyond my tenure as Councilman. I have directed the departments to work closely together to ensure that the historic elements of Griffith Park are preserved without placing unnecessary burden on daily, regular park management and maintenance.

Thank you again for your interest in Griffith Park.

Tom