Thursday: Spring Street Park Workshop
A rendering of the Spring Street Park site, which sits between 4th and 5th streets.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — The Historic Core community will get its second chance to weigh in on the design of a park slated to go on Spring street between 4th and 5th on Thursday. The city acquired the 0.8 acre site at the beginning of 2009, and a first design session was held in July.
Thursday's session will include the presentation of a conceptual design for the space, which sits between the Rowan Lofts, Rosslyn Lofts and El Dorado. The meeting is hosted by Councilwoman Jan Perry, the Department of Recreation and Parks, the Bureau of Engineering and the Downtown L.A. Neighborhood Council.
The meeting will run from 5 to 7pm, and will take place at The Exchange, 114 W. 5th.
Guest on March 16, 2010, at 08:20PM – #1
Is the park slated to fill the entire space shown in the rendering, or will there still be some space left for parking? I thought it was the latter, although I REALLY hope not. It would be great to see the entire space turn green.
alexandra on March 17, 2010, at 10:05AM – #2
are dogs allowed to join the meeting? my pooch wishes to vote for a portion of the park to be dog-designated.
Downtownie on March 17, 2010, at 10:55AM – #3
I agree with Alexandra. There are many many many dog owners in downtown (myself included), and we have nowhere appropriate to take our dogs for some off leash fun that is walkable.
Rich Alossi on March 17, 2010, at 12:09PM – #4
From my understanding, the entire L-parcel will be included as part of the project, excluding a small section adjacent to the El Dorado, which will be used as a driveway to access the Main St. garage.
Guest on March 17, 2010, at 04:58PM – #5
Please make a "no-dogs" specific area. I'm tired of these yupsters and their animals peeing and pooing everywhere. I thought it was the homeless that created that sidewalk stench but now I realized it's just the animals.
Friskie Buffet on March 17, 2010, at 08:05PM – #6
I do not agree that a park should go there. I predict that it will be taken over by the homeless and other riffraff.
Pershing Square serves the Historic Core as well as the new park at the LAPD building. And isn't there a park proposed for the Civic Center?
Mixed-use buildings should be built there to fill in the Historic Spring Street frontage.
Maybe a little "vest-pocket" park, but not anything more.
Simon Ha on March 19, 2010, at 09:03AM – #7
I went to the meeting last night. The design proposal has great ideas behind it but lacks many functional considerations. There will be other community outreach meetings for those interested.
Eric: I heard a few people complain about not knowing about the meeting soon enough. Would it be possible for you to report it at least a week in advance so more people can attend the meeting? I think you have more reach than DLANC or the city bureaus.
Eric Richardson (@blogdowntown) on March 19, 2010, at 10:20AM – #8
Simon: We're working on building a better calendar for these sorts of things. Right now it's a little bit of a catch: post too early, and people forget before the meeting comes around; post too late and they've already made plans.
Guest on March 19, 2010, at 11:41AM – #9
I predict that it will be taken over by the homeless and other riffraff.
The only way that can be avoided is if the park is arranged (with gates) and monitored like the Grand Hope Park next to the Fashion Institute on 9th St. But if political correctness rules the day -- and/or homeless advocacy groups raise the spector of lawsuits -- then the appeal of the future park on Spring St will be a dicey proposition at best.
Bert Green (@bgfa) on March 19, 2010, at 10:48PM – #10
It would be nice if the actual park were just a simple green space, but having attended the presentation yesterday on the proposed Spring Street Park, I am not so confident. That proposal showed a mostly paved "programmed" space with a small, oval, lawn area.
Downtown is a "programmed", paved space 24 hours a day. Our parks should be simple, green, and contemplative. Simple spaces get used by everyone: kids, adults, events, etc. The bad ideas that created Pershing Square have not gone away, they have just morphed into other forms. We need to demand park designs that are parks, and not concrete plazas with contained landscaping.