View source for Woodley Park (Los Angeles)

{{Infobox park
| name = Woodley Park
| photo = Woodley park access road.jpg
| photo_width =
| photo_caption =
| map = United States San Fernando Valley
| map_width =
| type =
| location = [[San Fernando Valley]], California, U.S.
| nearest_city =
| coords = {{coord|34.1795|N|118.4788|W|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| area =
| created =
| operator = City of Los Angeles
| visitation_num =
| status =
| open =
}}
'''Woodley Park''' is a recreation area managed by the [[Los Angeles|City of Los Angeles]] and located along Woodley Avenue between Victory and Burbank Boulevards in the [[Lake Balboa, Los Angeles|Lake Balboa]] neighborhood of [[Los Angeles]], [[California]]. The area is located within the large [[Sepulveda Dam#Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area|Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area]] in the central [[San Fernando Valley]].
The [[Tillman Water Reclamation Plant]] is adjacent to the park and surrounded by [[The Japanese Garden]], a large [[Japanese garden]] open to the public.
[[File:Woodley park picnic area.jpg|thumb|350px|Picnic area in Woodley Park.]]
==Recreation==
* Picnic areas
* [[Archery]] club and archer training grounds, some who have become world and Olympic champions in the late 1990s and early 2000s<ref name=Peterson>{{cite news |title=Straight Arrow: Montenegro, a World Champion Archer, Does His Best in Passing Sport to the Younger Generation |first=Lauren |last=Peterson |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-aug-05-sp-64983-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=August 5, 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108061508/http://articles.latimes.com/2000/aug/05/sports/sp-64983 |url-status=live |archive-date=November 8, 2012 }}</ref><ref name=Becker>{{cite news |title=Archery Tournament Lines Up Toys for Tots |first=Tom |last=Becker |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-dec-13-me-63623-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=December 13, 1997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108062017/http://articles.latimes.com/1997/dec/13/local/me-63623 |url-status=live |archive-date=November 8, 2012 }}</ref>
===Cricket===
{{main article|Leo Magnus Cricket Complex}}
Woodley Park has five [[cricket]] grounds in the [[Leo Magnus Cricket Complex]], and draws many of the best cricket players in the Los Angeles area.<ref name=Lazarus>{{cite news |title=Cricketers' Proving Grounds : Recreation: Woodley Park zone matches help in selection of U.S. team. |first=Michael |last=Lazarus |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-07-06-sp-20627-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=July 6, 1995 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108061413/http://articles.latimes.com/1995-07-06/sports/sp-20627_1_u-s-national-team |url-status=live |archive-date=November 8, 2012 }}</ref>
On many weekends, Woodley Park hosts a number of games of cricket being played by [[expats]] of Britain and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth counties]], and British influenced countries, including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the Caribbean.<ref name=Broadbent>{{cite journal |last=Broadbent |first=Lucy |date= June 2011 |title=Something Wicket This Way Comes: To the many things for which Compton is known, add a competitive cricket team |journal=LA Times Magazine |url=http://www.latimesmagazine.com/2011/06/something-wicket-this-way-comes.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316200455/http://www.latimesmagazine.com/2011/06/something-wicket-this-way-comes.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 16, 2012 }}</ref>
The 1995 and 2002 [[United States national cricket team|U.S. national cricket championships]] were held at the park.<ref name=Lazarus /><ref name=Chavez>
{{cite news |title=Cricket Spreads Its Wings: Sports: U.S. players are vying for the national title in the British export today in Van Nuys. They have big plans for the little-understood game. |first=Stephanie |last=Chavez |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-sep-01-me-cricket1-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=September 1, 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108061426/http://articles.latimes.com/2002/sep/01/local/me-cricket1 |url-status=live |archive-date=November 8, 2012 }}</ref>
===Events===
Events in Woodley Park can/have included:
* [[Classic car]] shows.<ref name=Berger>{{cite news |title=Classic Cars Draw a Much Bigger Crowd Than Mother Earth |first=Leslie |last=Berger |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-04-23-me-53-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=April 23, 1989 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108061442/http://articles.latimes.com/1990-04-23/local/me-53_1_earth-day |url-status=live |archive-date=November 8, 2012 }}</ref>
* [[bagpipes|Bagpiping]] troupe weekly practice, in the late 1980s.<ref name=Wharton>{{cite news |title=Peck of Pipers Practicing for Perfection Perk Up Sundays in Park  |first=Dave |last=Wharton |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-01-04-me-1950-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=January 4, 1987 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108061457/http://articles.latimes.com/1987-01-04/local/me-1950_1_bagpipes |url-status=live  |archive-date=November 8, 2012 }}</ref>
* [[Boy Scout Jamboree]] for the western [[Los Angeles County]] Boy Scout Council in 1999<ref name=Diggs>{{cite news |title=Jamboree Attracts 6,400 Boy Scouts |first=Agnes |last=Diggs |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-may-23-me-40221-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=May 23, 1999 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130127132507/http://articles.latimes.com/1999/may/23/local/me-40221 |url-status=live |archive-date=January 27, 2013 }}</ref>
*In approximately the mid 1970s Bonnie Raitt did free anti nuclear power plant concerts.
;Crime
Woodley Park was a scene of major drug dealing in the mid-1980s, a drug "supermarket" that was one of the most notorious areas in the [[San Fernando Valley]] for open drug sales. Increased police patrols, undercover operations, and surveillance by civilian volunteers curtailed the scene.<ref name=Braxton>{{cite news |title=Woodley Avenue 'Supermarket' : Police Say Drug Sales at Notorious Van Nuys Park Cut Significantly |first=Greg |last=Braxton |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-02-08-me-4748-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=February 8, 1985 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108062213/http://articles.latimes.com/1985-02-08/local/me-4748_1_open-drug |url-status=live |archive-date=November 8, 2012 }}</ref>
*A stabbing death occurred in 1986<ref name=LATstaff-stabbing>{{cite news |title=Van Nuys Man Held in Woodley Park Slaying |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-11-08-me-28348-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=November 8, 1986 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108062229/http://articles.latimes.com/1986-11-08/local/me-28348_1_van-nuys |url-status=live |archive-date=November 8, 2012 }}</ref>
* the murder of a homeless man kicked to death by two dozen men after an argument in 1988,<ref name=LATimesStaff-kicking>{{cite news |title=Local News in Brief : Tonga Native Gets 3 Years in Kicking Death |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-12-07-me-784-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=December 7, 1988 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108062538/http://articles.latimes.com/1988-12-07/local/me-784_1_3-year-term |url-status=live |archive-date=November 8, 2012 }}</ref> and shootings at two public events in mid-1992, including at a reggae festival<ref name=Zamora>
{{cite news |title=VAN NUYS : Shots Wound 2 at Park Reggae Festival |first=Jim Herron |last=Zamora |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-05-27-me-327-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=May 27, 1992 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108062557/http://articles.latimes.com/1992-05-27/local/me-327_1_reggae-festival |url-status=live |archive-date=November 8, 2012 }}</ref> and, fatally, at an [[National Pan-Hellenic Council|African-American college Greek organization]] event.<ref name=Chu>{{cite news |title=1 Killed, 4 Hurt in Gunfight at Fraternity Picnic |first=Henry |last=Chu |author2=Martin, Hugo |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-06-mn-418-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=April 6, 1992 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108061359/http://articles.latimes.com/1992-04-06/news/mn-418_1_gunshot-wounds |url-status=live |archive-date=November 8, 2012 }}</ref>
==Dog park==
Approximately {{convert|1.5|acres}} of the park were set aside in the late 1980s as a [[dog park]] area.<ref name=LATimesStaff-Dog>{{cite news |title=Growling to Greet Dog Park Proposal |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-07-15-me-3061-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=July 15, 1989 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108062609/http://articles.latimes.com/1989-07-15/local/me-3061_1_dog-park |url-status=live |archive-date=November 8, 2012 }}</ref> The city did not allocate funds until the 1990s for the construction of a fence needed for safer use by dogs and people.<ref name=Schwada>{{cite news |title=Park Goes (for Good) to Dogs |first=John |last=Schwada |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-09-27-we-1582-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=September 27, 1990 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108062624/http://articles.latimes.com/1990-09-27/news/we-1582_1_dog-park |url-status=live |archive-date=November 8, 2012 }}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist|25em}}
{{Parks in Los Angeles}}
[[Category:Parks in the San Fernando Valley]]
[[Category:Parks in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Lake Balboa, Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Van Nuys, Los Angeles]]