Park Gift Lost, Found

In a city widely acknowledged to have too few parks, the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks apparently lost track of a $4-million donation to buy land for playgrounds in low-income areas.

Anna Bing Arnold donated the money to the city when she died in 2003 with one condition: It must be spent by May 2005 or the city will forfeit the funds. But Jon Kirk Mukri, general manager of the city parks department, said he did not know about the money until the city attorney’s office notified him about it in late November.

“If there were people that were actively working on it, they certainly didn’t tell me about it,” said Mukri, who joined the parks department in February 2004, after the money had been donated. “Be that as it may, I was told. Better late than never.”

Mukri believes a previous employee who knew about the money retired without telling anyone about it.

The Bing family, which made its fortune in New York real estate, declined to comment on the grant.

The Bings have made major donations to other local institutions, including Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, USC and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

In Los Angeles, two-thirds of the city’s children do not live within walking distance -- or a quarter-mile -- of a park, according to a study released last year by the Trust for Public Land. In Boston, 78% of the children live near a park, and in New York, 59% do.

Councilwoman Jan Perry is hoping some of the grant money could be used to build a wetlands park at 54th Street and Avalon Boulevard on the site of a little-used MTA bus yard. Perry envisions the park as an outdoor classroom for environmental education.

“I’m not sure why it took so long to trickle down or for us to get it done,” she said about the grant. “It concerns me -- I don’t want to blow the deadline.”

Councilman Eric Garcetti said he does not believe the delay in spending the money was a result of incompetence.

“From my understanding, people were doing their due diligence,” he said. “There are only so many lots left for sale in the city, and they are usually involved in bidding wars.”

In 2002, the city helped fund a new nonprofit agency, Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust, to find and buy properties that can be converted to parks.

Tsilah Burman, executive director of the trust, said she was aware of the Bing money, and her group has submitted a proposal to use it to acquire land for playgrounds.

Although she would not provide details, Burman said the $4 million could be used to create four to eight parks.

“This isn’t a lost cause,” Burman said.

“I think the city definitely has time and is going to be able to take advantage of this.”