The Sylvan Amphitheater, located at 1840 Yosemite Drive, is an outdoor theater built in 1931, according to The Eagle Rock Historical Society. According to their website, the Eagle Rock Association (TERA) held a free concert in the amphitheater Oct. 10, co-presented with Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, Living Earth, Fixed Point Events, International Anthem,and the Yosemite Recreation Center. The concert, called Sylvan Sounds, featured artists Jeff Parker, Jeremiah Chu, megiapa and DJ Scottie McNiece.
According to TERA President Michael MacDonald, the build plans for the community amphitheater first came to fruition as the Eagle Rock community began to expand in the early 20th century.
“The Yosemite Recreation Center, which was formerly called Yosemite Park when it was built, was planned in the 1920s as the Eagle Rock community was sort of growing, as a place for kids and families to spend time,” MacDonald said.
The amphitheater was built when funding for construction came through around 1931 as part of an emergency jobs program, according to MacDonald.
“The Great Depression had hit just then, so all of America was really struggling,” MacDonald said.
In the decades after construction, vandalism made revitalization efforts “impractical,” according to The Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society’s website, which includes a 2001 photo of graffiti on the amphitheater. According to the site, the masonry has remained largely intact, and the amphitheater has hosted various events for Eagle Rock High School.
Noah Klein, co-founder and co-owner of Living Earth, a sponsor and collaborator on the Sylvan Sounds event held at the amphitheater, said the space has untapped potential for community gatherings.
“I feel like it’s just a case in point that Los Angeles as a city is incredibly prolific at erasing its own history,” Klein said. “Here you have an amphitheater that has been here for nearly 100 years that is still in phenomenal shape and could be such a beacon for community.”
According to MacDonald, TERA has been working on revitalizing the amphitheater through the Public Space Committee, which is focused on improving public spaces. MacDonald said the committee grew out of an effort to make Eagle Rock’s streets safer, and is now focused on putting that same energy into bringing awareness to local public parks.
“[The ampitheater] is just one of the ways that we can help uplift our local parks and make them better resources for community members,” MacDonald said.
Klein said it is important to also look at the native plants and ecology of LA as a type of historical storytelling.
“The native plants that can thrive and survive in high impact areas […] are so resilient [and] they have so many stories to share,” Klein said. “Almost everything that we walk by has history rooted in thousands of years of human presence.”
MacDonald said the amphitheater tends to fall into disrepair because the hillside around it isn’t well stabilized by plants or vegetation. MacDonald said TERA hopes to work with the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks and its Urban Forestry Division to improve planting around the park. Residents could adopt the park, assist with upkeep and plant native species around the theater, according to MacDonald.
“We can find opportunities for community members to garden around the theater to help further establish the native habitat,” MacDonald said.
According to MacDonald, TERA is also trying to make the amphitheater more accessible by fixing a main entry point from Campus Road.
“TERA has an active petition online to try and improve the gateway at the end of Campus Road,” MacDonald said. “Anytime you are out there for more than 10 minutes, you will see a parent struggling to get a cooler or stroller through. It’s also challenging to get through with a bike.”
MacDonald said the crowd at the Oct. 10 concert reflected a broad cross-section of Eagle Rock, with many families and neighbors running into people they knew.
“We had an incredible turnout,” MacDonald said. “It was maybe 700 people or so, and that is an amazing thing for just a word-of-mouth community event.”
Klein said the concert showed what the amphitheater could become: a place where the community cares for shared infrastructure instead of letting it deteriorate.
“We can come together and independently utilize spaces like this and let them share moments of our own lives,” Klein said. “But how can we do that on a larger scale, collectively, and utilize the infrastructure that we have instead of letting it deteriorate and only giving our attention and time to private enterprise?”
Contact Norah Bergen at nbergen@oxy.edu
