The city of Los Angeles is moving ahead with plans to build a $2.3-million iron fence around MacArthur Park.

The proposal has sparked debate over the best way to increase security at the park and help serve the homeless who frequent it.

On a brisk sunny morning in MacArthur Park recently, children played on a jungle gym as an open-air drug market operated nearby. Beside the park’s lake — which has witnessed more than a few bodies pulled from its murky depths — vendors prepared stuffed arepas for hungry patrons.

For years, the famed park has served as an urban oasis for thousands of Westlake residents hemmed in by concrete and asphalt. At the same time, however, the city has battled waves of gang violence, drug trafficking and growing homelessness.

Now, amid a city campaign to reduce

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