A "pocket park" opens in south Los Angeles

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The ninth district is one of most the populous areas of L.A. -- one not usually associated with wildlife and marshlands. But now it will be with the opening of a wetlands pocket park.Councilwoman Jan Perry leads the way:

"It was covered with asphalt and barbed wire and truck and machine parts and it was just pretty ugly. But with a little creativity, some tenacity, some community support -- well this is where we are now."

The 9-acre wetlands park is built on the site of a former MTA bus yard.

7th grade students of Celerity Dyad Charter School, who live a mere mile from the park, were at the opening. Ricardo Gallo piped up with his plans for the park:
"At this park I'm probably going to bring my friends so we could play football so we could do activities together."

One of the residents of the community, Janae Oliver, has lived here for over 30 years.

"My aunt is an avid walker, she walks every single day, so now she can come right here to this park and walk here. So I feel like the spirit of this community is back."

The park is one of the first projects set up around Los Angeles in conjunction with Proposition O, a clean water bond program. It's mission is to clean up pollution, protect the public health, and maintain beaches and oceans free of litter in accordance with the Federal Clean Water act. It is funded by Propositions 12 and 40.

Gary Lee More, works at the Bureau of Engineering, and describes one of the park's innovative and green features.

"And these lights you don't see any wires. You don't see any wires underground or overhead and that's because they're all solar powered."

While there is still much work to do on the park, Perry says this 26 million dollar project will be open by early next year.