The 2010 Rivie Awards
SPACE
This event would not have been possible without the help of the 2010 River Award Sponsors! A big Thank You to YOU from FoLAR and the entire River community for helping celebrate this years Rivie Award Winners:
Warner Bros. — LA Downtown News — Pactiv
Malcolm Pirnie — NBC Universal — Perkins + Will
LA County Supervisor Don Knabe
LA Weekly — ah’be Landscape Architects
Wacko Soap Plant — Mia Lehrer + Associates
Black Door — Hutchinson & Bloodgood, LLP
City of LA Bureau of Sanitation
ColorTrend Printing & Graphics
SPACE
What a Success!
SPACE
Nothing says thank you for working for the LA River like a good party. The ceremony started off with unparalleled traditional Korean dancing by the Kim Eung Hwa Korean Dance Company (see photo at left, photo courtesy of Kevin Lee Studio).SPACE
Los Angeles City Councilmember Tom LaBonge brought his energy and sense of humor to yet another successful Rivie Awards celebration, even serenading Lewis MacAdams for a few bars. LA’s Ad Hoc LA River Committee Chairman, Councilmember Ed Reyes, came to present the award to the River Keepers, as it has been upon the River Committees recommendation that they were created.SPACE
Even Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa showed up to meet the Korean delegation from Seoul and thank them for coming all this way to share their success. (Photo below: Korean Delegation with Mayor Villaraigosa, courtesy of Kevin Lee Studio)
SPACE
Our friends from North East Trees, TreePeople, and LA Creek Freak were in attendance, as were our favorite engineering big-wigs from the City of LA, Gary Lee Moore, Deborah Weintraub, and Carol Armstrong, and many other Staff Members from Councilmember Reyes’, Councilmember LaBonge’s, Council President Eric Garcetti’s, and the Mayors offices who dedicate themselves to the LA River on a daily basis. And of course, the party is never a party without our dedicated Board of Directors and our awesome FoLAR Volunteers!SPACE
And of course we want to send a special Thank You to Jongmoon Kim, Jaewon Kim, and Jin Sung of The Korean Cultural Center, for helping to bring the Korean delegation from Seoul, co-hosting the public forum, and bringing the Kim Eung Hwa Korean Dance Company to the Rivies. SPACE
Los Puros’ rhythms echoed through Union Station while River enthusiasts of all kinds shared a lovely evening together. Luckily, we were inside where it was warm and dry, thanks to Traxx Restaurant and Union Station. If you didn’t make it this year, we sure hope you can come next year.
SPACE
More photos are posted on our Facebook page. Become a fan!
SPACE
The 2010 Rivie Award Winners:
SPACE
The Cheonggyecheon Restoration Team, from Seoul, Korea for setting an example for all urban river restoration projects by taking out a freeway and bringing back the stream that had been encased in concrete below.
Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster, for being a staunch supporter of the LA River, confronting the problems that trash and debris from the River pose to his city and its beaches, and for coming out the the Great LA River CleanUp two years in a row and picking up trash, even after the press left.
Los Angeles Conservation Corps’ LA River Keepers for their tireless work to restore the LA River, including educating the future constituency for the LA River through school programs as well as maintaining paths and beautifying the natural bottom areas of the River.
Coca-Cola North America for their nation-wide campaign to support local watersheds by funding clean ups and educating their customers about the importance of recycling and volunteering locally to help protect the environment.
Cornerstone Theater for Touch the Water a River Play, a beautiful and touching work that incorporated local non-actors and demonstrated the way that this waterway has been a part of the communities that surround the LA River.
Heal the Bay, for their in depth research into the bulldozing of Compton Creek, and their watershed-wide view of the problems that face Santa Monica Bay and our beaches.
SPACE
Invitation art by Julianna Parr – www.juliannaparr.com
SPACE
Cheonggyecheon Stream Restoration Team Honored
SPACE
In Seoul, South Korea, expressways are removed to revive an urban stream
Friends of the Los Angeles River and the Korean Cultural Center of Los Angeles partnered to bring Korean Delegates who worked on the Cheonggyecheon Stream Restoration Project to Los Angeles to share their experiences with us in a series of events that will culminated at the Los Angeles River Awards Reception at the Main Ticket Concourse in Union Station on Saturday, February 6th, 2010.
The Cheonggyecheon became the centerpiece of Seoul when a king of the Chonson Dynasty, inspired by the meandering stream and its 23 tributaries, selected it as the new capital 600 years ago. But in the industrial era after the Korean War, the country’s poor migrated and settled on its shores, creating a public health hazard. To solve this problem, the stream was encased in pavement and covered by a network of expressways. Today, after a $384 million recovery project that took just over two years to complete, the liberated stream burbles between reedy banks. Picnickers cool their bare feet in its filtered water, and carp swim in its tranquil pools.
For more information about the project read Joe Linton’s excellent description at L.A. Creek Freek: Daylighting in the Heart of Seoul: The Cheong Gye Cheon Project