Behind the Payless Shoe Store that's home to the East LosStreetscaper's 1984 mural "Corrido de Boyle Heights" (Soto just south of Cesar E Chavez Ave) a forgotten Vietnam Veteran memorial runs through an alley.
I followed the lead of El Random, the L.A. Eastside blogger and took a few moments over the 4th of July weekend to take a look for myself at what is a lost grassroots neighborhood National Hispanic Vietnam Veterans Memorial. According to the plaque, it was to be open Monday through Saturday from 9am to 4pm. The gate has been locked for as far as anyone can remember.
Just as tragic is the alley that was converted to a small pocket park and also sits neglected.
And if you know us Downtowners; we do not take our pocket parks lightly.
Numerous benches sit among dumpsters. Trash lays on the tiled grounds. Taggers have marked the walls and a historic street lamp positioned toward the back half of the alley. A metal frame holds a fading banner that reads "Paseo De Los Flores" is beginning to rust, and concrete blocks are stripped of other plaques that may have been installed.
It was the second to last stop after a day of shooting photos around Highland Park, Lincoln Heights, the Pico-Union Area and Lincoln Park. The next stop was the Boyle Heights Concert and Fireworks show where I had a chance to speak with Councilmember Jose Huizar. Knowing District 14 has been helping Boyle Heights Vets secure a memorial site at El Pueblo/Olvera Street, Huizar gave me an update that a substantial donation from the CD14s general fund was made to move forward the proposed memorial.
After telling him about this neglected memorial, and showing him one of the photos taken a few moments before arriving at Hollenbeck Park, he and a staffer assured me they would look into the alley this week.
El Random admits to having walked past the alley without a second glance but refused to take a "blind eye" any longer. Hopefully, the businesses will clean up the trash so the site can be surveyed by those who want to care, and decide if there is a next step to be taken. Easily, it can be reconfigured to serve businesses in the back half as an alley and the front half can once again be used as public space honoring some local vets.
A pedestal stripped of a plaque sits in the alley also used as storage by the business fronting Cesar E Chavez Ave in Boyle Heights. The fountain toward the front of the space is highlighted by ceramic tile, used throughout the neglected "Hispanic" veterans memorial.
A historic lamp sits toward the rear of the walkway and is evidence that this alley turned veterans memorial was designed to be work as a pedestrian street scape. It leads toward the back, where another abandoned pedestal stripped of a plaque sits.
McDonalds cups are tossed over the fence that runs the full width of the alley, approximately 16 parked cars side to side.
A billboard overwhelms a small metal frame beginning to riust. The graphics on the fame and banner, and the word "Hispanic" used on the plaque at the entrance, dates the memorial back to the early 80s.
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