![]() The Ballona Discovery Park now stands as both a gateway to the past and a bridge to the future, located at the trailhead of the Ballona Wetlands. Randy Roche, S.J., Lisa Fimiani, and Eric Strauss greet visitors to the Ballona Discovery Park, a cooperative project of LMU, Playa Vista, and Friends of Ballona Wetlands.Īs one of three project partners, LMU, Playa Vista and Friends of Ballona Wetlands, we were involved in the design of a park to inform the public about the times, tides and transformations of the Ballona Wetlands, and very importantly, to tell the Tongva story, and through educational narratives we shared the truth of what happened at Ballona by listening to Indigenous elders and facing the humbling truths of our legacies. We are proud of our university’s involvement in embracing the issues and challenges of our geographic area as they relate to the ancestors of the Gabrielino Tongva Indians. We have a beautiful Tongva Memorial on campus overlooking the bluff, where students, faculty and staff can look out over the Ballona Wetlands. As the developer of Playa Vista began creating their community below the university, we taught the geographic, biological, social, and cultural history of the area – and specifically what happened to the original residents on the land. Much of this work has been in collaboration with naturalist and CURes Fellow Lisa Fimiani. The sandy area of the beach, with a slight slope of 2%, will act as a link between these two levels.In my 11 years here at LMU I have gotten to know members of the indigenous community, engaged students in their stories and undertaken research projects on their sacred lands that we call the Ballona Wetlands. On the lower level, the events area, warehouse, toilets, garden area and the body of water will be developed. The project will be carried out in two stages: the first is the access level which will include the parking area, entrance, central plaza and some of the main buildings such as access control, administration, shops, offices, changing rooms, lockers, a gym and medical centre. In addition, more than 300 direct and indirect jobs are expected to be created. ![]() ![]() The work will take about a year and a half, although it is not known when the first hands on stages of the project will begin. Madrid's new beach complex will include a car park, areas for water sports such as sailing or surfing, children's pools, zip-lines and various catering areas. Crystal Lagoons itself has similar projects in Chile, Mexico, Egypt, Jordan, Panama, Peru, Dubai and Saudi Arabia, as well as participating in a previous similar project in the town of Casares (Andalusia) in Malaga, a large lagoon which covers an area of no less than 1.5 hectares. The group shares the project with Crystal Lagoons, a firm specialised in the construction of artificial beaches all over the world. With a budget of more than 15 million euros, the construction group is the only recipient of the project tender opened by the Municipality of Alovera, a small town in the province of Guadalajara in the north-east of the Madrid region. It should be noted that the aritificial beach will not need to undergo an ordinary environmental impact sssessment as it is considered not to have significant effects on the environment, as can be seen from the project presented by the developer, Rayet Construcción SA. The project consists of a leisure park, whose main element is a large area of water measuring 20,641.88m2 with a volume of water of approximately 35,500m3, and a bathing and water sports area, surrounded by an urban beach with an area of 16,888.90m2 However, all of this could be about to change, as the Directorate-General of Circular Economy in the Community of Madrid has stated that the project to build "Alovera Beach" has been given the green light, as published by La Nueva Alcarria newspaper.Īlovera Beach is intended to be the largest artificial urban beach in Europe and the first for public use located in Alovera (Guadalajara). "Is there a beach in Madrid?" is a question that we all know the answer to, with Madrid being possibly the furthest place possible from the beach in Spain.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |