THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



241 



this park. Here is the state exposition buildini; \vhv;rc 

 all forms of California products are exhibitetl and fur 

 whose maintenance the state appropriates $30,000 a year. 

 The state armory recently conijileted at a cost of .'^i.^O.OOO 

 is also located in this park. 



The park contains a very fine mile race track, sur- 

 rounding a twenty acre playground and athletic field. In 

 addition to several football and baseball fields and a large 

 range of tennis courts, this area is to contain a sunken 

 concrete stadium for the holding of all forms of athletic 

 games. .\ $60,000 steel and concrete grandstand, a 

 private gift, was recenth- erected by the park department 

 on this track and a large club house and locker building 

 with an outdoor swinimmg ])ool in connection is soon to 

 be constructed. 



The stables in connectidu with the race track are situ- 

 ated in the rear of the park and have accommodations 

 for 200 horses. They are nearly always filled witli 

 thoroughbred race horses which may be seen in action 

 every day in the year. Many prominent horsemen bring 

 their racing stables to Los .\ngeles for the winter months. 



The most striking feature of Exposition Park is the 

 architectural effect 

 secured by the ar- 

 rangement of the 

 above mentioned 

 buildings, w h i c h 

 are all the same 

 material and style 

 and all of great 

 architectural 

 beauty. They arc 

 g r u jj e d about 

 three sides of a 

 quadrangle which 

 contains a n i n e 

 acre sunken gar- 

 den. In the center 

 of this garden is to 

 be located the 

 memorial fountain 

 c o m m e m o r a t i n g 

 the completion of 

 the Los -Angeles 

 aqueduct. 



Eastlake Park is 

 the largest of the 

 intown parks of 



Los Angeles and is one of the finest neighborhood parks 

 in the country and by far the most popular and most used 

 park in the city. At this park are held the great state 

 picnics for which Los .\ngeles is famous, as many as 

 30,000 people often attending a single picnic here. 



This park during the past three years has been in the 

 process of a coni])lete reconstruction and the work has 

 been but recently comi)lete(l. Eastlake is among the 

 oldest of the city parks and the magnificent specimen 

 trees with the great areas of lawn give to this park a 

 charm perhaps greater than that of any other park in the 

 city, certainly nowhere else in southern California can 

 such an expanse of rolling lawns be seen. The park 

 contains a fair sized lake, where boating is enjoyed by 

 large numbers. A feature of the recent improvement has 

 been the erection of a brick boat house and bandstand 

 with an extending jiergiila j)avilion encircling a large 

 music court. 



Eastlake Park has contained for many years the city 

 conservatories and greenhouses and a complete new plant 

 has recently been finished to replace the old buildings 

 which were falling into decay. This new range of con- 

 servatories has been three years in building. It is com- 



S.\.X PEDRO PL.\Z.\. U\ EKL(Jill^l.\G l,( ).S .VXCF.LICS MARIiOK 



posed entirely of firejiroof materials and will be prac- 

 tically indestructible. The ten sections of tiie building- 

 form one of the finest ranges of conservatories in the 

 country, the largest public one west of Chicago and St. 

 Louis. This conservatory has been designed and built by 

 the park department with its own forces and at a cost of 

 approximately- $90,000. some $40,000 below the lowest 

 contractor's estimate. 



The park contains aLo a recently erected Carousel, or 

 .\lerr_\-go-round, costing some $20,000. A range of 

 tennis courts and an outdoor swimming ]mk)1 with sur- 

 rounding shelter and pergolas to be built within the com- 

 ing year completes the amusement features of the park. 



(Griffith Park with its area of 3.015 acres, the largest of 

 the city park areas, is the third largest nnmicii)al park in 

 .\merica, being exceeded in size onl_\- by Fairmount Park 

 in Philadelphia and the lllue Mills Reservation of Boston. 

 The scenery in ( iriffith Park is probably more varied than 

 can lie fuund in any other city park in the United States 

 and includes high mountains, deej) canyons, open 

 meadows and heavily wooded river iDottoms. From the 

 roads and trails splendid \-iews are obtained also of the 



distant mountains 

 on one hand and 

 of the sea on the 

 other. There are 

 forests here of na- 

 tive trees of large 

 size, and the shrubs 

 and llowers native 

 to scmthern Cali- 

 fornia are found in 

 abundance. 



The work of de- 

 veloping this park 

 was begun four 

 years ago and a 

 great deal already 

 has been accom- 

 jjlished. Some 14 

 miles of road have 

 been built and the 

 park departirient at 

 present is cutting 

 three miles of ad- 

 ditional roadway 

 through the moun- 

 tains on the south- 

 ern side of the park. The new road will connect with 

 the portion already complete and form a fifteen-mile cir- 

 cuit of the park com]ileting what is to be known as "El 

 Camino Felix"' (the Happy Road) destined to be one of 

 the most scenic park drives in America. In addition to 

 the roads, five miles of bridle trails and several miles of 

 foot trails have lieen opened, -while numerous picnic 

 grounds, supplied witli tables, seats, cooking furnaces and 

 drinking water have been constructed. A complete water 

 system has been installed with reservoirs, pumping ])lants 

 and many miles of main and supply pipes furnishing water 

 to every section of the Park and greatly increasing the 

 protecting agaiiT^t the fire damages so dreaded in the dry 

 season. 



.A beginning has been made in this jiark of what is 

 destined to be a great open air zoo, with animals kept as 

 nearly as possible under natural condition ~. A permanent 

 range of bear dens is coni])leted and a number of tem- 

 porary cages and corrals have been Iniilt to house the 

 large collection of animals formerly kept in Eastlake 

 Park. 



This year a range of lion dens in which there will be no 

 liars between the lions and the spectators is being con- 



