The former rail yard and brownfield consists of a long open space between Spring Street and the tracks of the Los Angeles Metro A Line.

[1] This former site of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company's River Station (1876−1901) is considered the "Ellis Island of Los Angeles" where new arrivals from the East first disembarked.

[2][3][4] Corn leaking from train cars and sprouting along the tracks gave rise to the nickname The Cornfield.

Plans for a bridge, water fountain, theme gardens, an upscale restaurant, as well as an ecology center with restored wetlands were tabled.

It also contains several plaques that relate the history of the Cornfield, Chinatown and Downtown Los Angeles.