Echo Park Lake Monument Fund

Historic Echo Park

Echo Park Lake Monument Fund

A Landmark Lake

--Your Contribution Will Help Preserve Echo Park Lake

Echo Park Lake is a true Los Angeles icon. Its image has been captured in photographs, movies, murals, even in promotional postcards sent across the country in the early part of the 20^th century. After all, what says Echo Park more than the red bridge that reaches from the lake’s inner shore to the island?

Yet for all its beauty, Echo Park has not received the care it deserves. Plantings have been removed. Trash collects in the lake. The boathouse has fallen into serious disrepair. When Echo Park Lake reached its 100^th birthday in 1995, no one even bothered to celebrate.

Now, the Echo Park Historical Society has embarked on a strategy to preserve and restore Echo Park Lake. The first critical step is to make the lake a City of Los Angeles cultural-historic landmark, one that takes in so much that is special about the park – the Lotus bed, added in the 1920s; the boathouse, built in 1932; and the Lady of the Lake, the Art Deco statue installed in 1934 and restored just a few years ago.

Designating Echo Park Lake a monument would protect it from the ill-advised development plans that seem to surface every few years. Monument status would also coincide nicely with the lake’s 110^th anniversary, an event being celebrated by the EPHS this year with monthly walking tours, promotional articles and a Historic Home Tour planned for November.

Unfortunately, preparing such a complex monument application for the city – and researching the lake’s many components -- is beyond the EPHS’s volunteer efforts. The EPHS decided earlier this year to hire the respected firm Historic Resources Group, to assist it with the bureaucratic process. But that firm’s expertise costs money. So far, we have covered those costs through our year-round fund-raising efforts, from membership dues to our $3 walking tours.

If you believe in preserving the lake, and giving it the status it so richly deserves, please help us by providing an additional contribution toward making Echo Park Lake a city landmark. You can help us conserve our cash for other worthwhile programming by making a donation that will be earmarked for covering the expenses of the nomination. Any amount would be appreciated, but ideally donations of at least $25 are preferred. See payment details below.

Echo Park Lake has provided fond memories for generations of Angelenos. Now is the time to recognize the lake’s historic significance and ensure that it remains for generations to come. We hope we can count on your support.

Sincerely,

Kevin Kuzma, President

Echo Park Historical Society

Click on the link below to view the lake monument application (in PDF document format) researched by Historic Resources Group

Donations Options

Credit Card: Please click on the PayPay Donation button above to donate through the secure, PayPal service.

Personal Check: Please make out your check to "EPHS" and note that it is for the "Echo Park Lake Fund." Mail your check to:

EPHS

P.O. Box 261022

Los Angeles, Calif.

90026

Echo Park Lake Fund Supporters

The Echo Park Historical Society would like to thank the following individuals for their generous financial support of the Echo Park Lake Fund:

Neal Cutler and Donna Crane, Alexandre and Hatlestad Shey, Judith Raskin, Diane Kanner and Ronald Weinstein, Dana Byal, Suzzane Kimbrough, Linda Howard, Alexis Kate Steinman, Marjorie Romer, Giancarlo Mercado, Jill Lembke, Susan and John Borden, Xavier Perez Grobet, Ursula Mary Brooks and Tze Koong Wang, Matthew Dubois, Barbara Bordo, Monica Oller and Tomislav Pejic, Edna Kam, Cheryl Dimatteo, Christine Papalexis, David Bice, Jeffrey Paolo and Lisa Tessandori-Palo, Viltis Katarina Januta, Peter Chinnici, Virginia McCown, Malcom Schenot, Murray Burns and Planaria Price, Richard and Madgette Mueller, Suzi Rogers, Robert Smith and Jenny Burman, Corrinna Aragon, Scott Barnes, Richard Stanley, Sally Rainer, Roger and Mary Steffens, R.C. Dawson, Christoher & Eleanor Burian Mohr, Kenneth W. Robbins, James W. & Lois D. Thompson, Manao Demuth Davidson, David M Farrow, Lawrence Fried, Lisa Anne Reardon, Lore Spangler, Robin Blackman & Merrick Morton, Isa-Kae Meksin, Virginia McCown, Peter & Nancy Auerbach, Peter Shire, Bobbie Berg, Ariadne Shaffer & Costa Singer, Marion & Yet Siu, Earle Peter Nelson, Stephen Seemayer & Pamela Wilson Seemayer, Christine Weir, Michael J. Oconnor and Martha Yee, Demetri Silas, Rebecca Koppenhaver & Anthony Orona, Karen Frimkess Wolff, Kathleen Woodson, Martha Yee.

Echo Park Historical Society

Echo Park Historical Society ephs@HistoricEchoPark.org (323) 860-8874 P.O. Box 26946, Los Angeles, CA 90026