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Fort Moore Waterfall Restoration Planned, but Still Years Away

By David Markland
Published: Wednesday, January 12, 2011, at 12:37PM
Fort Moore Memorial David Markland

The wall to the right of this relief was part of an 80-foot-wide waterfall until it was shut off during a 1977 drought.

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — The Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial was dedicated on July 3rd, 1957, to commemorate the site of a Mexican-American War adobe fort. Located on Hill Street just north of the 101 Freeway, the memorial features the nation’s largest bas-relief military monument. It also featured an 80-foot-wide waterfall, at least until the tap was shut off in a 1977 drought.

"The sound of the waterfall could be heard from blocks away and the splashing water could be felt if you were standing on the sidewalk in front of it," wrote Liza Hernandez in the comments on a previous blogdowntown story mentioning Fort Moore. "And the best thing was that from a several blocks away, southeast of the waterfall, it looked as though the the Hollywood Freeway ran right under this big waterfall, a great optical illusion."

Now, over 33 years later, a plan appears to be in place to get the water running again.

According to Monica Valencia, a spokesman for Councilman Ed Reyes office, $50,000 in Prop K funds will be used for a 2013 environmental study to "assess the structural integrity of the current structure, while identifying how a project would meet Prop K guidelines." An additional $450,000 in Prop K funds allocated for the project will be used for the restoration itself.

Since the Fort Moore park property is currently owned by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), a Joint Use Agreement between the City and LAUSD must also be worked out. That would determine issues such as maintenance responsibilities and access.

Once the environmental report is finished and the LAUSD partnership determined, Ejike Mbaruguru with the City's Bureau of Engineering believes the restoration should take no more than a year.

Whether any of this comes to pass in 2013 remains to be seen. blogdowntown was unable to find anyone with the city or LAUSD who appeared to be championing the project.

Los Angeles Magazine associate editor and preservationist Chris Nichols said that the last time he checked with the city on when the waterfall would be restored, he was told, “not in our lifetime.”

Still, there do appear to be people who are ready to rise to the occasion. Asked about the project, Regina O’Brien, the Los Angeles Conservancy’s Modern Committee chair, said that she’ll be putting the Fort Moore Memorial waterfall restoration on the agenda. “We would love to take this project up,” she said, “and ‘take it under our wing’ as it were.”

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Guest 1

Guest on January 12, 2011, at 12:51PM – #1

Someone turned it off and then probably retired. No one remembered where the button went, and it was lost to time. One of these days, a staffer is going to be pushing a random button in some dark wing of City Hall and the water will start flowing again.


User_32

Lynxwiler on January 12, 2011, at 01:54PM – #2

I would so enjoy seeing that waterfall functioning and flowing. A city's water features are a civic detail that brighten the urban landscape and I'm all for this rehab!


Guest 2

Guest on January 12, 2011, at 03:23PM – #3

It would be interesting if David Markland or someone else at Blogdowntown did some research on why this monument was switched off in the first place. To save energy? Due to a drought? Because the water pump(s) broke?

I give praise to Ed Reyes for being involved in such an effort. I'm sure a variety of his constituents will grumble about the project being a waste of money. But considering the high number of impressive monuments, particularly those involving fountains, that exist in American cities like Kansas City, no less, or Chicago -- with its grand Buckingham Memorial Fountain -- restoring Fort Moore actually is small beans.

I won't even mention how things here compare with the capital cities of Europe.


David Markland on January 12, 2011, at 03:27PM – #4

Guest 2, I point out in the last sentence of the opening paragraph:

"It also featured an 80-foot-wide waterfall, at least until the tap was shut off in a 1977 drought."


Guest 2

Guest on January 12, 2011, at 03:30PM – #5

Oops. I just now realize that the story mentions that a drought over 30 years ago was the reason the waterfall was turned off. I guess my question should have been why no one in all that time has ever made an effort to reactivate that feature.


David Markland on January 12, 2011, at 05:48PM – #6

Guest 2, great question, and one I spent a great deal of time asking around about, and was unable to come up with answers. I was also unable to find anyone currently championining the project - even the good folks at Reyes office were unable to offer more info other than what I wrote here. The funds from Prop K to fix this were approved in 1997. Over thirteen years ago. But the issue appears to continually be kicked down the road.


Ken L. Hall on January 12, 2011, at 07:36PM – #7

They probably did not reactivate it because, (like many old fountains), it is a "non-circulating" variety, which means the water just keeps running and is wasteful. My question is, why, if the money is there to cover the cost of a rehab, is it not being done??...Funds were approved 13 years ago???...it's only going to get more expensive as time goes on. The LAUSD should be more interested in its restoration...since the fountain is commemorating a historical event...duh, they still teach history in school...right?? There must be some entity that could take over this project...Being a downtown resident, I would certainly volunteer my time to do whatever is necessary to bring this to fruition.


Guest 3

Guest on January 12, 2011, at 08:43PM – #8

Why was it left to rot?

That is simple. Look at the subject of the memorial.

The City is spending millions of dollars to restore a mural at Olvera St. that depicts America as an evil imperialistic conqueror.

This memorial, on the other hand, celebrates an American military victory over Mexico, and the first 4th of July Holiday in Los Angeles... It also honors those who gave their lives for our country.

In a City where historic Sunset Blvd. was simply replaced with Cesar Chavez Blvd. for no other reason then to cater to a shifting demographic, this shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

Good luck getting this project funded. It's important, but I can't think of a single politician with the political will to make it happen.


Guest 2

Guest on January 12, 2011, at 08:46PM – #9

David, your adding that funds to deal with the Fort Moore monument date back to 1997 means the story of its semi-abandoned condition is even more puzzling and pathetic. But if the fountain is similar to the ones built in Rome during the era of the Roman Empire, then that fully explains why it would have been switched off. A huge amount of continuously fresh water flowing in from the topside and then probably funneling straight down into a storm drain would have been both an extravagance and a tremendous waste.

However, it's hard to believe that such a fountain would have been designed for and built in modern-day LA, particularly since the city has suffered droughts going back to its inception.

I think the story of Fort Moore is ready-made for at least a portion of an episode of Huell Howser's "Visiting."


Guest 4

Guest on January 13, 2011, at 03:28AM – #10

To the person who said Sunset Blvd was changed to Ceasar Chavez for a shifting demographic get your FACTS right. Sunset Blvd heading east changed to MACY St @ Broadway then stayed as Macy St all the way east over The LA River where it became Ceasar Chavez. If you go to that bridge you can read the plaques that say "Macy St. Bridge" Sunset Blvd never went farther east than Broadway. I never see anyone near this monument cause it's kinda hard to get to with the lack of parking and that area is not pedestrian friendly. Unlike Olvera St with it's easy access via Union Station and it's parking lots. I dont think it has anything to do with The US/Mex war or else Ed Reyes wouldnt be so interested in restoring it.


Guest 4

Guest on January 13, 2011, at 03:31AM – #11

Oh and to add to my comment it wasnt till the late 90's I believe when Macy St was changed to Ceasar Chavez west to Broadway.


() on January 13, 2011, at 09:30AM – #12

Guest number 4 --

I am not certain where you got your information - and there is a lot of inaccurate information out there on LA to easily mislead people - but Sunset Boulevard always went all the way to the Plaza until the 1994 partial name change - and Macy Street never came close to Broadway.

When Sunset Boulevard was created (partly out of other streets by the Plaza such as Church, Bread/Baker and as well as Short and High - but only after parts of them had became Bellevue and then later had become Marchessault before most of it became Sunset) - it conformed with the way streets are named in LA and started at the east/west divide of the city and that was considered Alameda at that point.

And at NO time did Macy ever go more than a couple hundred feet west of Alameda, much less all the way to Broadway. It was a totally different street than Sunset, though a tiny piece of it was incorporated into it.

Macy then started at Alameda and headed east over the Macy Street bridge and then became Brooklyn Avenue. And I have... dozens... of maps showing that as being the divide.

I also remember this very well since it was considered odd to take the first few blocks of Sunset Boulevard and change the name of just those blocks - which can get very confusing - as opposed to the name being changed for entire length of the street as was done with the other two streets.

And here are maps that go back to 1910 showing Sunset Boulevard:

http://www.lanopalera.net/LAHistory/LAHistoryGally.html#src1946LAMap

And here is the wikipedia entry on Sunset Boulevard:

Sunset Boulevard used to extend farther east, starting at Alameda Street near Union Station and beside Olvera Street in the historic section of Downtown, but the portion of Sunset Boulevard east of Figueroa on the north end of Downtown Los Angeles was renamed Cesar Chavez Avenue, in 1994, along with Macy Street and Brooklyn Avenue, in honor of the late Mexican-American trade union leader.


User_32

on January 15, 2011, at 08:58PM – #13

We've often walked past this, going along Hill to and from Chinatown, and wondered. DTLA has changed a lot since 1997: I hope someone will see this project as part of the revitalization of our city and pick it up to champion. Like Ken, I'd also be willing to pitch in my time to help make it happen.


User_32

BobbyD on February 14, 2011, at 06:57AM – #14

A little waterfall is stopped from being turned on by environmentalists who praise former vice-president Al Gore owning unused houses that use more water for landscaping than this little waterfall would use.


User_32

on June 09, 2012, at 02:28PM – #15

I thought the other reason the waterfall has not been turned back on, is because some homeless saw a shower and used it.

I think I was told the water recirculated via pumps behind the wall.



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