A controversial fencing project to make MacArthur Park safer is worrying some Westlake District neighbors.
The 8-foot fence will wrap around the park’s perimeter, which has been in the spotlight after a series of drug enforcement crackdowns this year. Crews will start the installation next Monday, running it along the north side between 6th Street and Wilshire Boulevard and along the southern edge between Wilshire and 7th Street.
Some residents, like Aurora Corona, said it could work to give drug dealers less access and give law enforcement more control.
“And get families more committed to going there and feeling safe,” Corona said. “It will displace more people, but I’m hoping that the city can help us with the social services.”
Others believe it won’t work and will just push the problems out of the park and into neighborhoods, especially after dark, when the eight entrance to MacArthur Park will be closed from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m.
Before a community meeting on Thursday about preparing for disasters, Elaine Alaniz, president of the Westlake North Neighborhood Council, said the problems have already started.
“Personally, my building did catch fire. My neighbors’ building did catch fire. They’ve lost their homes,” she said. “The drugs come this way, the fires are starting because of the people who are homeless that are heavily using drugs are causing fires.”
Neighbors urged city officials to place a park ranger or a Los Angeles Police Department substation inside the park.
The fence project is expected to cost more than $2 million and may be completed by next fall.