Silver Lake Reservoir, Concrete reservoir in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, United States.
Silver Lake Reservoir is a concrete water storage facility with two connected basins that together hold roughly three billion liters and are separated by a wide spillway channel. A continuous shoreline path runs around both bodies of water and connects several public recreation areas with sports courts and fenced zones for dogs.
The lower basin was named in 1906 for Water Board Commissioner Herman Silver, and the neighborhood took its name from the water. The upper basin was named after Sir Walter Scott's 1819 novel Ivanhoe. In 2007 both basins were found contaminated with bromate and were drained in March 2008, then refilled in May; Silver Lake was then taken offline permanently, leaving only Ivanhoe in service.
The lower basin was named in 1906 for water board commissioner Herman Silver, and the neighborhood took the name from the water. The upper basin is named after the 1819 Walter Scott novel Ivanhoe. The reservoir appears in the 2018 film Under the Silver Lake, directed by David Robert Mitchell, and was featured in an episode of Visiting... with Huell Howser.
The loop around both basins measures roughly 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) and is open to pedestrians and cyclists, with multiple entry points distributed around the perimeter. Those completing the full circuit should plan between 30 and 50 minutes depending on pace.
The three-acre Silver Lake Meadow opened in April 2011 on the east side of the lake, not the south shore, and was modeled after the Sheep Meadow in New York's Central Park. It is a passive park, meaning visitors come to sit on open grass rather than use courts or play structures.
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