On December 2, 2026, California State Parks will consider the approval of a deeply flawed General Plan Amendment (GPA) for LA State Historic Park that would officially add Frank McCourt's LA ART gondola to the park's general plan. The GPA is available for review at https://lastatehistoricparkgpa.com/.

Our understanding is that Governor Gavin Newsom has signaled to state parks staff and his appointees on the California State Park and Recreation Commission, that he doesn’t want them standing in the way of the gondola project.

Please write to the governor right now to tell him not to put his thumb on the scale for a billionaire. The State Park and Recreation Commissioners must be allowed to carry out their independent public responsibility to protect the park. We believe that if the commissioners evaluate the project and general plan amendment based on the facts, they will have no choice but to reject this unfunded tourist gimmick once and for all.

The gondola project does not serve the mission of the park, but rather, it conflicts with key goals in the general plan. The gondola would cut down 81 trees at LA State Historic Park, build a massive 98-foot-tall station at the park’s southern entrance, fly cabins as low as 26 feet above very popular, heavily used greenspace, and add corporate naming rights signage and advertising on the stations and cabins. The gondola would degrade the park's iconic downtown skyline views and completely change the character and use of this public resource. Outside of the park's boundaries, the project would be incredibly invasive to the surrounding historic neighborhoods of Olvera Street, Chinatown, and Elysian Park. And contrary to the developer's claims, the gondola is not an effective method of transit for a 56,000+ capacity stadium, and it would not expand access to LA State Historic Park, which is already served by a Metro Rail station.

California should apply the same principle to its own parks that it invokes when defending nationally protected lands: irreplaceable public resources deserve rigorous protection, transparent decision-making and an evaluation based upon the public interest rather than the wealth, prominence or influence of a project’s sponsors.

Please share this action and encourage your friends to submit comments. Park land and airspace are not to be carved up and given away to developers for other uses. California State Parks would set a terrible precedent for all of the state parks they oversee by approving this gondola plan.

PLEASE WRITE THE GOVERNOR NOW!