Wonders in Concrete
by Pasadena Adjacent
all links provide past/present park images and addresses (please visit)
Laguna de San Gabriel Playground was the site of my seventh birthday party and the concrete opus of 70 year old Mexican born Benjamin Dominguez 1894-74; Concrete visionary and graduate of Uof M La Academia de Artes Plasticas. This particular “Folly”, located within Vincent Lugo Park (formally Well’s Park) opened to the public May 16 1965. What makes this park, as well asAtlantis Parkin Garden Grove truly unique is that Dominguez integrated animal forms into a created landscape as part of the larger design. Take note of the tree plantings on the concrete mound (no longer here) yet they’re full grown there.
Big Gulp, originally uploaded by Access Palm 2009.
I grew up around Senor Dominguez’ creations.Legg Lake; another local park supporting his earlier free standing fish and fantasy forms was the site of many large family gatherings of my relatives in the “Montes, haCiendas, Puentes and Whitiers.”
We almost lost our treasured Laguna de San Gabriel a few years back when a “master plan” was developed to rid the Gabriels of the “feral” monsters in favor of a socker field. For once people got smart and stopped this possible travisty of artistry through the formation of the Friends of Laguna association.Las Vegas did not show the same intelligence. Benjamins son’s were able to salvage one piece before bulldozers plowed the works under in the middle of the night (a familiar civic tragedy strategy).
In 2009, Friends of La Laguna was awarded both the Los Angeles Conservancy’s Advocacy Award and a California Preservation Foundation President’s Award. In the land of teardowns and McMansions, this is a groundbreaking achievement. Los Angeles and “Friends”can take credit for creating the framework that has led to the protection of post WWII playgrounds everywhere. Isn’t that cool? not so with the links below; they’re hot
Atlantis .
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Installment Ten of my series examining the “Secret, Feral and Concrete”
Merry Christmas Eve
my gift to you (and it’s local)
near the San Gabriel Mission
Our opinion at Pasadena Adjacent Research and Development is a preference towards the muted tones of Benjamin Dominguez’ original paint selection over that of the louder more agressive tones currently employed in Laguna de San Gabriel’s concrete work.
Oh, oh, oh… Little Bit had a fit just now when I showed her these pics and the ones in your links. What a treasure. And what a love you are for posting such a place of wonder for Christmas. Must, must, MUST see this place in person.
Again, merry merry to you and yours my dear PA.
Yes, that is Kool, PA!
You know, if you looked far & wide, high, rather than low, you can see Whittier’s Rose Hills near in the distance from Lake Leg. Which can only mean, I have to wish you the Maryiest of Holydays–Christmass!
There’s something so dear about a man, an artist, who chose to delight children.
thanks for showing me the sights my dad would zoom by. I’ll have to see them in person.
Merry Christmas to you and Mr. V and the rest of the gang high up the hill.
I learn something new every day. These were completely unknown to me until now. Merry Christmas Pas Adj!
Are these your photos? You have an amazing collection.
I didn’t know about these spots at all. I feel like copying Keith’s and Karin’s comments. There is something sweet about him.
That whale mouth–I’ll bet kids really gravitate toward it. I don’t know what it is, but of all the things at Disneyland, Disney’s whale mouth fascinated me most as a kid. The rides were okay, but I just wanted to get in that boat and ride through that mouth.
Merry Christmas, PA, to you and Mr. V and all your kittles.
Beautifully researched and compiled, dear ‘P.A.’. Brightened my Xmas! Hope yours is sweet and much love to you two.
Happy holidays to you too, and where else would one find a video (spoiler alert) from the inside of a pink whale’s red mouth? Very cool, also funny are the old pictures of the mothers dressed in dresses no less, and are those high heels? Those must have been fun for walking in sand and don’t you think that giant white purse could have been left in the car? I noticed one photo with a little boy in shorts wearing cowboy boots, must have been the age of Westerns on TV; Rawhide, Gunsmoke and early black and white Bonanza.
Very Happy Holidays to you, Mr. V and all of yours.
I adore the 2nd photo, everything about it! – s/b on permanent display.
Never heard about these places, maybe I was too old for this kind of attraction when we moved here ‘cuz my parents would go exploring out and about, at least at first. I agree about the muted colors – much more pleasing.
PS – you’ve got me on a nostalgia kick. Come by to MostlyLACounty when you get done with all that organizing. (Winter break used to be my time to organize photos…now I’m just transfering all on a new external hard drive so P. won’t be grumbling about me using all the space on the laptop.) I’ve connected with 2 friends from Tuzla elementary school – again, gotta love Facebook.
I especially like the reveal at the end of the video. And the insanity of mothers dressed that way at a playground makes me want to fall down laughing – just contemplating all the ironing that went into that little jaunt, no wonder my mother hired someone to do that for her until we were old enough to do it for ourselves. Now I understand.
I hope Christmas was sweet! You’re blog has been a great gift to me and I want you to know how very much I appreciate it.
What is a teadown?
I think the ladies were in their Sunday best and took the kiddies to the park after church.
My mom still dresses that way – thank goodness it’s all polyester now (since now I do her wash). When I leave the house with her I usually get “Are you going like that?”