Skip to main content

Albion Riverside Park

Posted on 04/19/2017
Albion Riverside Park

Visit the Albion Riverside Park Project Homepage For Full Project Information

 

**CONSTRUCTION BEGAN IN APRIL 2017 AND A GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY WAS HELD ONSITE ON MAY 6, 2017!**

 

In addition to providing LA River-adjacent open space, the Albion Riverside Park project is a Proposition O water quality improvement project. Additional funding for the project came from the State of California's Proposition 84, which finances the creation of new parks and recreation facilities for underserved California communities, and from the City's Proposition K, which is focused on combatting the inadequacies and decay of the City’s youth infrastructure and improving park, recreation, childcare and community facilities. The six (6) acre triangle-shaped site is adjacent to the Los Angeles River at 1739 N. Albion Street, north of Main Street and south of Spring Street. The site is bordered by Albion Street to the southeast, by the existing Downey Park to the north, and by railroad tracks to the west. In 2009, the City purchased the site, which was formerly a Ross Swiss Dairy distribution center. Existing buildings and underground structures were demolished and the contaminated soil was remediated to acceptable residential standards. Prop. O funded the demolition and soil remediation, which was completed in 2013.

The project will expand the existing Downey Recreation Center, creating new recreational space, including new multi-purpose athletic fields with lighting, an adult fitness zone, and a children’s play area, plus improved visual access to the LA River (rail tracks make a direct physical connection infeasible) and to other projects in the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan. The existing Downey Park baseball field and outdoor basketball court will also be improved. There will be a seamless connection between the new improvements and the existing park’s new recreational amenities. In addition, the project will add a new parking lot with permeable paving, walking and bike paths, interpretive graphics and signage, trees and shade structures, site landscaping and an open meadow area.

The park will include Low Impact Development (LID), Green Infrastructure, and Best Management Practice (BMP) measures to improve the water quality of stormwater prior to discharging into the Los Angeles River and ultimately into the Pacific Ocean. In addition to collecting, treating and infiltrating onsite runoff, the project will divert stormwater and dry weather flows from an existing storm drain. The diverted flows will be treated and infiltrated or used within the park. The BMPs installed will include bioretention facilities, bioswales, and pervious pavement subsurface infiltration areas.

The design was jointly completed by Tetra Tech and the Bureau of Engineering (BOE) Architectural Division. The general contractor is Sully-Miller Contracting Company. The notice to proceed for construction was issued on March 29, 2017. Re-construction of the baseball field will begin on May 28, 2017 to accommodate the current baseball season. Construction will be complete in the Winter of 2018/19.

Please see the press release for the groundbreaking from the office of Councilmember Gil Cedillo:

 

CD 1 Albion Riverside Park Groundbreaking Press Release

PDF iconCD 1 Albion Riverside Park Groundbreaking Press Release

 

See below for photos from the May 6, 2017, Albion Riverside Park Groundbreaking.

 

Photo from CD 1
Photo from CD 1_2

 

Photo from CD 1_3_0
Photo from CD 1_4

 

Photo credit: Jay Cortez, CD1, City of Los Angeles.