What Happened to the Great Heron Gate?
March 31, 2009 § 4 Comments
Gate Interrupted
Something collided with the Great Heron Gate! As I biked past it this morning, only the right panel of the gate is standing. The doorway at the left of the gate is bent back. There’s yellow police tape strung across the space where the missing panel was. It looks like a car collided with it. I hope the missing panel is not irreparably damaged.
Another Sad Gate Shot
The Great Heron Gate was designed by sculptor Brett Goldstone. It was commissioned by the Friends of the Los Angeles River, with funding from the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority. The gate was dedicated nearly 10 years ago, on Earth Day 1999, and is the very first example of artistic gates welcoming folks onto the Los Angeles River. It’s located on the east side of Fletcher Drive near Ripple Drive in Frogtown, just south of the 1927 Fletcher Drive Bridge, at the entrance to Rattlesnake Park.
Decorative river gates have now become a cottage industry. Other great Goldstone gates are featured at the northeast side of Fletcher, Marsh Park, Steelhead Park, Acresite Street, Maywood Riverfront Park, Rio Vista Park (on the Rio Hondo), Centinela Avenue Park (on Ballona Creek), Whittier Narrows Nature Center (on the San Gabriel River) and many others. Other artists have gotten into the act and created welcoming gates into waterways in Los Feliz, Studio City, and South El Monte.
The Fate of the Gate?
Please leave a comment if you can let us know what happened to the Heron Gates! I will try to post some photos of the damage shortly – check back on Creek Freak very frequently – help drive up our statistics so we can sell out lucratively! Images posted above taken this morning, and below of how it used to look.
How it used to look (image from the Silver Lake News)
L.A. Creek Freak 
Sad, but I’m sure it can be fixed.
The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) owns and/or manages the gates and many of the pocket parks along the River. Our staff discovered the damage to the gate and removed some of the panels for repair. Unfortunately there was no evidence of who damaged the gate, so we have no way to make a claim against them. We are currently evaluating the cost of repair. If anyone would like to donate to the restoration of the gates, it would be greatly appreciated. In the future, please call the River Center to notify us about any vandalism you see in our pocket parks along the Los Angeles River.
I hate to see what some people can do to distroy beauty. I don’t understand it, will never be able to comprehend it, and don’t understand what goes through people’s minds as they distroy the efforts of others.
The MRCA has fixed the gate and, as of late April, it’s looking great again. See the update at this later post.