State Pays $41M To Create L.A. Park

Friday, December 22nd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LOS ANGELES (AP) â€” In what officials call the most expensive urban open space acquisition in California history, the state and county have agreed to pay $41.1 million for a parcel of land slated to become part of a major city park.

Officials hailed the acquisition of the 68-acre parcel near Los Angeles International Airport as a sign of a shifting focus in environmental policymaking toward preserving open space in urban areas. The purchase was announced Thursday.

``We used to buy parks way out in the boondocks,'' said Stanley Young, a spokesman for the Resources Agency of California. ``This is a major change in philosophy and strategy.''

It has not been determined what type of park will be designed for the site. Much of the area of big, brown hills was historically used as oil fields, so large swaths of unpaved land remain.

The purchase literally stopped bulldozers that were grading the property for an upscale, 241-unit housing development. The state paid $36.5 million, drawn mostly from the Proposition 12 parks bond voters approved in March, with the rest coming from the county.

Esther Feldman, president of Community Conservancy International and the main organizer of the movement to preserve the hills, said the purchase was a major coup despite the high price.

``There's a million people in a three-mile radius, including one of the largest African American communities in the state,'' she said. ``This is really the crossroads of Los Angeles.''