I was back in the area this time last year and took some time to explore Tongva Park and the adjacent Ken Genser Square. Here's a few photos of this area from the previous post.
Ken Genser Square is one acre park in front of the historic Santa Monica City Hall, named after a former mayor of Santa Monica. It's across the street from Tongva Park.
Pictured above, the fountain at entrance to City Hall - obviously popular with seagulls.
Santa Monica City Hall was formally dedicated on November 25, 1939. It's an outstanding example of the Public Works Administration (PWA) Moderne style of architecture.
Place at the entrance. It was after 5pm and the building was closed.
Beautiful lily pad flowers. These photos were all taken in last December.
I walked back across the street to Tongva Park. Here's a link to a previous post with additional photos.
As stated last time, Tongva Park opened in 2013, on a former six acre parking lot. Trees, paths, water features, sculpture, a children's play area, splash pad. Remember the lyrics to the old Joni Mitchell song "they took paradise and putting in a parking lot"? In this case, just the opposite is true.
The park borders the Santa Monica Freeway, just as it narrows down to two lanes and merges into the Pacific Coast Highway.
Up against the edge of the park, right where it borders the Freeway, is "Morty," a massive 100 year old Moreton Bay Fig Tree (Ficus macrophylla).
Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia) native to South Africa. This is the "official flower" of the City of Los Angeles.
A view of the end of the Santa Monica Freeway at the 1935 McClure Tunnel. You can almost, but not quiet, see the end of the tunnel. Here's a link to a previous post with a bit more info.
There's probably no bad time to visit Tongva Park, but sunset was particularly beautiful.
Palm trees (another non-native) silhouetted against the setting sun, with one of the park's beautiful fountains.
This sculpture is apparently also a weather monitoring station.
The setting sun and the incoming coastal fog made for an beautiful view of the overlook deck.
Another view of the overlook deck with the reflecting sun at sunset.
I had more time to explore the surrounding area. More on that next time.
© 2017 www.experiencingla.com
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This time last year I was back in the area - and took some time to explore Tongva Park in Santa Monica.
Tongva Park is a 6 acre urban park, located on Ocean Avenue a couple of blocks from the Santa Monica Pier. The park officially opened on October 19, 2013.
Informational sign at the entrance.
Lots of drought tolerant plants. I believe these are Agave Attenuata, native to Jalisco, Mexico. They're fairly common here in Southern California.
The large ficus trees (as well as a massive fig tree) have been there for years. Apparently, Tongva Park was previously a six acre parking lot.
At any rate, it's awesome to see a twist on the old Joni Mitchell song: "They paved paradise, and put up a parking lot." In this case, just the opposite.
The park features a beautiful overlook deck, allowing for outstanding views of the adjacent Pacific Ocean.
Another view of the overview deck.
Tongva Park was designed by landscape architects James Corner Field Operations, the New York-based design team behind the High Line in Manhattan.
Here's a link to an outstanding article from the Los Angeles Times, with ten times more information that you'll find in the wikipedia article.
While Southern California is no longer in an extreme drought, water conservation is a ongoing issue. Xeriscape, based on the Greek word "dry" is drought tolerant landscaping. Unfortunately, xeriscape can sometimes be "zero-scape" --- rocks and weeds.
That is not the case in Tongva Park. The James Corner team did an excellent job brining in an incredible 30,000 plants from more than 170 unique species. Above, aloe plants - native to North Africa.
Southern California's Mediterranean climate allows for unique plants that simply can't be found anyplace else in the US.
It was a weekday afternoon in late Fall; the park was relatively quiet. I'm sure it's busier on weekends and summer months.
Palm trees in the background. Tongva Park has more than 300 trees from 21 species.
photo credit: http://tongvapark.smgov.net
Here's an photo of what that park originally looked like: a 6 acre parking lot. Note the palm trees along the perimeter, which were wisely kept.
There is a fun children's play area, no doubt packed on weekends. I wisely decided against taking any photos with kids.
Across the street from Tongva Park is the Santa Monica City Hall, and Ken Genser Square.
Here's a link to the Tongva Park + Ken Genser Square website. More next time.
© 2017 www.experiencingla.com
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