The herald., 1896-02-02
PARKS AND THE LIBRA

There is apparent disposition III
this city to convert parks into build
ing sites. Tne ii ne has almost arrived
for drawing the line against this idea.
Outside of the Plaz, park III sre Is no
single park III Los Angeles which
should be- considered subject for
abandonment for an instant. With
thu possible exception OF the PlaZi,
which has long since ceased to be used
as place Of recreation, and no longer
serves its original purpose as the CEN
terpost of the municipal territory, Los
Angeles needs every park it has, aud
ins'ead of specializing on the advisa-
bllity OF using than as resting places
for public buildings we should be de-
vising ways aud means Of making tnem
more attractive and popular
Parks have been aptly termed the
'lungs Of the city" Ia them the peo-
pie breathe more beautifully ana freely
than elsewhere in crowded munich
pality They are the GASES in the des.
ert CT brick, mortar and lumber that
the modern community, and the green
OF the lawn, the hue and scent OF the
flower and the shade of the tree they
give are worth many times the cost of
their maintenance. Parks are to the
city what private grounds are to the
mansion AMI they constitute the only
Fairgrounds of the multitude whom
the fortunes of life doom to existence
that is divided between the work hop,
the store or the counting room and the
fat or the tenement. The parks mean
fresh air, frolic and at least a no iding
acquaintance with nature TO thousands
of children today and more thousands
in the future as this city expands into
a great metropolis, and the parks
should be kept and kept better year
after year as we grow older aud rich,r.
Even the little city hall park should
not be dispensed with. 1t is needed
not only to relieve the architectural
lines of the city's building, but to give
to the latter fair measure Of air and
sunshine. The suggestion that it
might be utilized tor the site of a
public library might be wori by OF
serious entertainment if land were
scarce hereabouts or the park itself Of
more ample proportions. But there
is an abundance of vacant property yet
in Los Angeles and the ground ad Join
ing the city hall is entirely inadequate
in arss for the accommodation OF the
sort Of public library building that
city with the assured growth, in popu-
lation and wealth, of Los Angeles
should have.
A much more desirable site for a
public library building would be the
property now occupied by what ia now
known rs the Spring street school, This
piece of real estate is located where, in
the course of few years, it will be
more popular in the situation of a IL
brary than the vicinity of the city hall.
In fact, it can be said that on either
Spring, broadway or Main, b.tweeu
Fifth and Sixth streets, library would
! be more convenient today to the
majority who use it than it
Is rs at present located. The
Spring street school site is of sufficient
dimensions to permit the erection of q
building large enough to be responsive
to the demands of the public for at
least generation to come, and having
frontage on two streets it would
OF fua IF
vastly superior to those that could be
enjoyed by any b1ilding jammed into
the little space IN Ter tie shadow of
The city hall Bat keep the parks and
keep them we'll