Lily Pond

At the Beverly Hills trolley station just south across Santa Monica Boulevard, residents and visitors were greeted by the lily pond, an early Beverly Hills landmark originally installed in 1907 as one of the first major features of Beverly Gardens Park, which became one of the city's earliest public parks when formally completed in 1911. The Beverly Hills sign was introduced there in 1912 and later a historically accurate replica was reintroduced in 2006 as a gift to the city from the Rotary Club of Beverly Hills and resident Robert S. Anderson. The linear park extends 22 city blocks and about 1.9 miles and includes the Electric Fountain, Doheny Fountain, and the Rose and Cactus Gardens, along with sculptures and public art added beginning in the late 1990s, while also hosting annual community festivals and celebrations and attracting tens of thousands of national and international tourists each year. By the mid-1970s, repair and maintenance costs for the pond had become excessive, so it was removed and the space filled with soil and landscaping, remaining additional parkland until the pond was reintroduced and reconstructed in 2013/14 through a community-supported effort. Former resident and local businessman Steven C. Gordon advanced the idea of a citizen-driven initiative to restore the pond and Beverly Gardens Park, founded the Friends of Beverly Gardens Park, and raised funds for this and later restoration work.

Beverly Hills, California · United States