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Classical Chinese Garden to Be Created in Los Angeles
A classical Chinese garden will be built in one of the tourism attractions in Los Angeles and plans were unveiled Thursday at a gathering for the 12-acre (4.8 ha) site.
The Chinese Garden will be located in a largely undeveloped section of the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, originally a 207-acre (83-ha) private estate of railroad magnate Henry Edwards Huntington, which was opened to the public in 1928.
Framed by existing woodland, the garden will include a lake, tea house, pavilions, bridges and numerous "poetic views," plus other natural and architectural features set amidst a landscape of plants native to China. The anticipated opening date for the first phase which comprises three acres is early 2004.
According to Huntington president Steven S. Koblik, the project has been under discussion for several years but materialized with a bequest of 10 million US dollars from the estate of Peter Paanakker, the late Los Angeles businessman and philanthropist who died in 1999.
"Peter Paanakker long cherished a dream, shared by the Huntington staff, of creating an authentic Chinese Garden that would showcase that country's rich cultural heritage," Koblik said at the gathering. Half of Paanakker's gift will fund construction of the first phase, while the other half will be used to create an endowment for the garden's future operation. Development of future phases of the Chinese Garden will continue over a period of years, and the estimated cost for completion of all 12 acres has not been determined.
Chief designer of the garden, Jin Chen, is a Chinese architect who was educated in China and the United States, and served a project coordinator for a Chinese garden in Portland, Oregon, which was completed in 2000. He said that key materials for Huntington's Chinese garden as well as skilled craftsmen will come from China to ensure authenticity of construction in every detail.
Apart from rare books, manuscripts and art, the Huntington currently has 13 specialized gardens, one of the largest of which is the 10-acre Japanese Garden. The Chinese Garden, at its finished size of 12 acres, will be largest.
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