Angelenos might actually come face-to-face and meet each other this summer.
Downtown Los Angeles is about to be reoriented around a four-block, 12-acre park scheduled to open in the heart of the city over the summer. The park will stagger openings of each phase starting in late July.
The Performing Arts Center, more commonly known as the Music Center, will line up music festivals, theater, educational programming and farmer's markets for the green space. The County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to put the Music Center in charge of the space and to change the park's name from Civic Center Park to Grand Park.
The $57 million park is bordered by the Walt Disney Concert Hall on Grand Avenue, City Hall on Spring Street, Temple Street to the north and First Street to the south.
Construction of the park began in July 2010. And while some parts of the Grand Avenue Project have stalled, construction of this park has moved ahead, as is evident from the photos below.
Some elements of the previous park will remain, such as the Arthur J. Will Memorial Foundation, but the new park, funded by developer Related Cos., includes changes that encourage community.
Grand Park, which will have an 18,000-person capacity, will feature a large event lawn directly in front of City Hall, smaller lawns and groves for more intimate gatherings, a three-quarter mile promenade loop, dog running tracks, smaller walking paths through gardens and a new Starbucks. The central fountain is being renovated to include surrounding jets that pop up for children to play in.
"It was a nice park before but there was really no interaction," said Dawn McDivitt, county project chief. "It's [about] people just enjoying everybody and getting out to meet everyone again. I think that’s really lacking in this society, especially in Los Angeles," she added.
Click through renderings and construction photos of Grand Park:
All photos by CEO Photo Unit, County of Los Angeles
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