THEY PAVED PARADISE, PUT UP A BALLPARK OVER CHAVEZ RAVINE.

Byline: - Rob Lowman

It was 42 years ago last week that the Los Angeles City Council approved the sale of 300 acres in Chavez Ravine so that Dodger Stadium could be built. But some 10 years before the area became known for Drysdale and Koufax, Garvey and Russell and Vin Scully's eloquent play-by-play, Chavez Ravine was a vibrant Mexican-American community that photographer Don Normark called a ``poor man's Shangri-La.''

In 1948, the young Normark stumbled upon the community while looking for a view of downtown. He spent the next year documenting life in the area, which maintained its rural quality amid the exploding city. In 1950, the city's housing authority began evicting the residents of Chavez Ravine - some had to be dragged from their homes. The area had been designated a ``blighted area'' in order to make room for a new housing development. The residents were promised the ``first chance'' to move into the new project once it was completed, but anti-public housing foes managed to kill the plan, eventually paving the way for the Dodgers to move into the area.

Chavez Ravine has often been described by officials as a dump or a wasteland before the stadium was built, a characterization that still angers residents of the late-'40s community. Normark has collected their memories as well as his own in a beautiful new book that features his photographs from the era.

``Chavez Ravine: 1949 - A Los Angeles Story'' (Chronicle Books; $29.95) is a poignant reminder of a part of the city's past that some wanted forgotten. By the way, some of Normark's Chavez Ravine photos are on display through Sept. 26 as part of ``California Blend: Tradition and Change'' at the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona.

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Photo: (1--2) Photographs from ``Chavez Ravine: 1949,'' by Don Normark.