LA Parks Commission Gives OK To Proposed $4.6M Griffith Park Homeless Shelter

LOS FELIZ (CBSLA) – Griffith Park in Los Feliz is one step closer to getting a temporary homeless shelter after the project was approved Wednesday by the Los Angeles City Parks Commission.

The Board of Recreation and Parks Commissioners unanimously approved placing a bridge housing shelter on the southern end of Griffith Park, in the 3200 block of Riverside Drive, south of the Griffith Park Recreation Center.

The shelter, which was proposed by L.A. City Councilman David Ryu, would be able to house up to 100 people. An estimate from the city engineer's office indicated the project could cost upwards of $4.6 million, which officials say would be fully funded through the city's "A Bridge Home" program.

"In times of crisis, parks have always helped meet our highest challenges and serve our greatest needs," Ryu testified before the commission Wednesday…"By opening up this lot to Bridge Housing, we will not only meet the crisis of our time, but we will also help build community around this shared purpose of ending homelessness."

The shelter would be placed on city-owned land. It would include 100 beds, several showers and restrooms, laundry facilities and an area for pets and storage.

According to Ryu, the city council must now approve funding for the Griffith Park shelter before it can be built.

The "Bridge Home" program, first introduced by L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti in April 2018, involves putting up about two dozen temporary homeless shelters across the city to help combat the growing homeless crisis. The first in the series opened in downtown L.A. last September. A total of five shelters have since been opened. Each is scheduled to remain in place for a period of three years.

For more information on the program, click here.