Transitioning urbanized land along San Gabriel River from commercial duck farm to a native plant and riparian river parkway. Balancing the built environment and nature.
3. TRANSITION
Commercial Duck Farm Phytoremediation River Park
The DUCK FARM river parkway
4. TIMELINE 2005 2006 – 2009 2010 - 2011 2011 2012 - 2013
Watershed Planning process & Phytoremediate Complete park Park construction
Conservation Authority community outreach the land utilizing design & entitlements & Grand Opening
purchased parcel from EPA’s Supplemental
Trust For Public Lands Environmental
Program funds
The DUCK FARM river parkway
21. SUSTAINABLE California Native Plant Landscape
Water Conservation Demo Garden
Pedestrian
Green Job Training Program
Native Plant Nursery
Future Community Garden
The DUCK FARM river parkway
the Duck Farm is a proposed 90 acre water-front park that will be implemented over time along the stretch of the San Gabriel River between the Valley Blvd and San Jose Creek just north of the 60 Freeway. The park and open space will provide valuable linkages to surrounding park poor and generally underserved neighborhoods. As well as, linkages to regional trail systems and larger regional park plans such as the Emerald Necklace and Regional Bikeway Master Planning efforts that are currently on-going. the Duck Farm is a proposed 90 acre water-front park that will be implemented over time along the stretch of the San Gabriel River between the Valley Blvd and San Jose Creek just north of the 60 Freeway. The park and open space will provide valuable linkages to surrounding park poor and generally underserved neighborhoods. As well as, linkages to regional trail systems and larger regional park plans such as the Emerald Necklace and Regional Bikeway Master Planning efforts that are currently on-going.
Over 2 miles of river front offers a park in what is a largely underserved, park poor, and highly urbanized community surrounded by industry and transportation corridors. The community rallied around idea that the River, Energy and Sustainability should play a large role in shaping the park.
In its development the design vision has been to seek to balance between the built environment and a return to nature. The site is a complex intersection of urban and man made structures each bringing a host of operational criteria to be designed within.. The site it self brings its own challenges with it being bisected by the 605 freeway.
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To celebrate the river, which serves many purposes along this stretch from water harvesting and infiltration for ground water recharge to soft bottom habitat for plants and avian species not to mention serving as a habitat corridor for other wildlife – the river will be opened up again via a river overlook.
What today is a fenced ROW barrier will become a
Destination to view the river, birds and plant material with sweeping views to the north of the San Gabriel Mountains. Visitors to the park will also discover how water is held for drinking water recharge through the use of rubber dams.
A weed stricken and barren landscape
Transformed into a rich Riparian habitat. The dry streambed will collect rain and site flows, infiltrating into the floodplain and provides year round interest and a shady rest areas for park visitors.
The next major experience in the park will be interpretation stations. As visitors explore the parks’ 1.5 mile trail loop they will be greet with rest areas and opportunities to discover various energy and habitat related themes.
One of the most iconic interpretive features will celebrate the green energy sources such as solar, wind or hydro and also celebrate water, plants and habitat. The symbols above will be spread throughout the park for the visitor to discover.
Draws park guests along what is a relatively flat landscape will be interpretive stations with wind activated whirly-gigs. Here you see several of the designs being considered.
In this design grasses are used to provide sweeping movement across the field representing the wind.
In this design the ground plane is transformed into a shining representation of the sun and offering operational access to the towers for maintenance and emergency access. Currently these elements are unfunded due to funding gap
Here is an artist representation of how the symbols would be read from the freeway. You can see just how much they bring the site to life, giving meaning to the many towers, its history as an urban corridor now balanced with a return to its natural uses.
The WCA is also involved in discussions with several of our Conservation partners, such as the California Conservation Corps, San Gabriel Valley Conservation Corps and Los Angeles Conservation Corps, to operate green training job programs and native plant community outreach programs from the Duck Farm. Over the years all three corps have worked side by side the WCA in the operation and maintenance of our parks and through this potential partnership we would take that cooperation one step farther. Here the words on the existing barn reach out the community to come and explore.
In their exploration they will discover native plant meadows and fields, and water conservation demo garden providing easy to replicate ideas for planting water wise plants in their own homes and have an opportunity to reconnect with nature through exploring the parks system of trails. In the future there is the opportunity to establish a community garden too.
The project itself is currently in the infrastructure and remediation phase of construction. The site having been a relatively free range commercial Duck farm decades had high concentrations of Nitrogen in the soils and some minor pockets of lead. You’ll notice that as part of this phase the skeleton of the site with its landscape patterns and trails having been laid.
Demonstration gardens and native plant nursery partnership building and community outreach
Uninviting access point is transformed into pedestrian friendly passage
Which invites park visitors come and explore the park
In addition there are plans for Future expansion and enhancements. From restoring the historic Duck Farm house and creating a home demonstration native garden to a native nursery with talks currently underway to find an operator to the reopening of the Equestrain Center and inclusion of a dog park. One of the more ambitious ideas is the
Creation of an energy garden at the entry pocket park. Here visitors and neighbors can come together to play and interact while learning about and creating their own energy through exercise machines hooked up to park interactive features – bringing the park experience full circle.
And with that, Thanks for allowing me to update you on this really important park project for our region.
