New Historic Filipinotown Western Gateway Dedicated Today

This new landscaped triangle is the Filipinotown Western Gateway. Temple Street Bridge over Silver Lake Blvd is on the left

The Historic Filipinotown Western Gateway is a new green space that just opened today.

It’s located just about a mile north of Los Angeles Eco-Village, where Silver Lake Boulevard crosses below Temple Street. 

View of the Filipinotown Western Gateway site from Temple Street looking west

I just returned to Los Angeles, so I don’t have all the details on this project, but I understand that it came from a collaboration of the Rampart Village Neighborhood Council, Council District 13 Los Angeles City Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell, the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Street Services, and probably others.

1934 Temple Street Bridge over Silver Lake Boulevard

The new green space is a sloped triangular site, right next to the historic Temple Street Bridge over Silver Lake Boulevard. This bridge was built in 1934 to relieve congestion on Silver Lake Boulevard.

I was on the board of the RVNC at the time that this project was initiated, and suggested that the site might commemorate Merrill Butler, the longtime L.A. City bridge engineer responsible for numerous historic bridges, especially over the L.A. River. I was happy to see that the monument marker at the site echos the designs of the adjacent bridge.

New gateway marker for Historic Filipinotown. Note that the sign includes motifs from the adjacent historic bridge

Congrats to all of those involved in seeing this project through to completion.