After closing the popular pony ride at Griffith Park, historic preservation issues may hinder LA in making big changes.
The historic footprint from nearly 75 years of pony rides at Griffith Park may be an obstacle as Los Angeles city officials turn to deciding what should replace the popular family attraction, shut down in a controversial decision last month.
The document establishing Griffith Park’s historic status specifically identifies the 1947 pony ride structures as a “Historically Sensitive Resource and Area.” The document states, “The original fenced path for the Pony Rides, its waiting canopy and ticket kiosk are all still present and unaltered.”A sign is left on the historical ticket kiosk at the defunct Griffith Park Pony Rides in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. The city of Los Angeles closed the pony rides after 74 years.
Public commenters offered a broad array of opinions at a virtual task force meeting on Dec. 15 of the city’s Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners, which focused on the city’s sudden push to close the pony rides and pursue new uses for the roughly four acres of land. But many others, including some horse owners, disagreed with the decision by the city’s Recreation and Parks Department to not renew the contract with concessioner Steven Weeks, who had operated the pony rides for the past six years.
, even though the contract did not require Weeks to inform the city of the deaths. The city’s equine veterinarian said the deaths of the four ponies were not due to neglect. Weeks said the ponies who died were in pasture corrals and were not being used for rides. They died from natural causes including medical complications and old age.
After the December meeting, it was clear that the city, RAP and the commission had no idea what to offer the public in place of the iconic pony rides. “What is yet to be determined is what comes next,” said Jimmy Kim, RAP general manager. At the December meeting, park commissioner Tarafai Bayne said he was “very sensitive to the conversation about access to animals and young people’s development.” But he said Weeks should have been more transparent regarding the pony deaths.
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