Orsolya D.
Yelp
I know what you're thinking: "Oh no, here goes Elite Yelper Orsolya D. yet AGAIN reviewing another Los Angeles-area park". I'm sorry, guys! I can't help it that I frequent parks (and many due to working goat yoga with my job). So, let's add Pan Pacific Park to the list, shall we?
I'm sure you've heard of (been to/driven past/etc) Pan Pacific Park as it is a legend and historical landmark. For real: it is registered with the national historical registrar. Located on Beverly near The Grove, CBS Television City, and The Melrose Post flea market; Pan Pacific Park has been holding down the fort in the Fairfax District for quite some time. It was the home to LA baseball before Dodgers Stadium and gloriously housed the Pan Pacific Auditorium which was the go-to venue for indoor sporting events and shows and was featured in many Hollywood films before burning to the ground. In fact, if you have been to California Adventure at Disneyland; then you have entered the park through gates designed after Pan Pacific Auditorium.
Nowadays, Pan Pacific Park is a very large acreage that features spacious greens on sloping hills, not one but TWO playgrounds/playsets for the kiddos, an amphitheater area next to the Holocaust Museum, basketball courts, baseball fields, picnic tables, paved walking/jogging paths and the recreation center which is modeled after the Pan Pacific Auditorium and provides the local community with sporting lessons, events, and activities. They even have a pool! The recreation center is the highlight of Pan Pacific Park as the 60s space age/modern architecture is straight out of "The Jetsons" celebrating the rare art deco and space age buildings we can occasionally spot in Los Angeles. A (free) parking lot is available but tends to fill up so give yourself a moment to find an open spot.
This sounds amazing, right? Well... yes, on paper. The problem is that Pan Pacific Park is basically ghetto pretending not to be due to its famous history and location. In the early 90s, Pan Pacific Park was still 'cool' but has since declined. During my visit, I noticed the park strewn with litter and the grounds certainly not green and lush. Park-goers were quite disrespectful accompanied with about 700 dogs not on leash. Now, I ADORE animals - heck I work with them and was at the park working with my goats! - but it is a LAW to have your dogs leashed. This isn't a dog park! The entitlement blows my mind. I was continuously worried about my (leashed) goats being attacked. There was actually a full-blown verbal argument between a female with an unleashed dog and a male who almost had his leashed dog attacked. It was like the Jerry Springer Show at Pan Pacific Park and honestly: I side with the male. PUT YOUR DOGS ON LEASHES!
The drama continued with many homeless individuals screaming up a storm including one yelling at lord knows who or what in the bathrooms. We could hear him straight across the field in front of the museum! This place is a little nuts, Yelpers! Definitely not a place for children unless with parents by their side for safety. Alone? Certainly not.
Complaints aside, Pan Pacific Park did provide spacious, level grounds perfect for conducting my goat yoga class and went off without a hitch (aside from worrying about the unleashed dogs). Thus, it was an overall successful visit.
Pan Pacific Park is a plot of history in the Fairfax District and is therefore worth a visit but it is specifically for that reason that its neglect doubly-sad. Pan Pacific Park is not terrible (I've seen much worse) but it doesn't compare to some of LA's overflowing flora and fauna city parks.