Thursday: Update Meeting for 9th & Hill Park
Rendering of the proposed pocket park at 9th & Hill.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — The community group behind the effort to get a park on the northeast corner of 9th and Hill will hold a meeting on Thursday, March 25, to update folks interested in the project on what the next steps are now that a state grant request has been submitted.
That grant could provide $5 million, 75% of the $6.6 million that the group believes it would take to purchase the land and develop the project. The rest of the money would come from Quimby funds and private donations.
The 7pm meeting, which will take place at the Wurlitzer Building, 816 S. Broadway, could have some high-profile names. An email sent out by the project this week says that Councilman Jose Huizar and State Assembly Speaker John Perez will attend.
The state's Prop 84 funding awards will be announced this summer.
Rich Alossi on March 19, 2010, at 04:29PM – #1
But where am I going to park??
No, no, just kidding. See, this isn't so hard. Grass, trees, benches. Perfect.
Jacob Holloway on March 19, 2010, at 05:04PM – #2
I couldn't agree more.
Rich Alossi on March 19, 2010, at 05:06PM – #3
Well, you have to agree with me.
Bert Green (@bgfa) on March 19, 2010, at 08:37PM – #4
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.
Joel Covarrubias on March 25, 2010, at 11:39AM – #5
This area needs green, green, GREEN. There is so little green in the area, it doesn't need any more pavement. The rendering reflects exactly what is needed: grass, trees, benches, dirt paths, lighting (lampposts), a trashcan. If there is any money remaining, hire a maintenance guy to mow the lawn and empty the trashcan.
I will echo Bert Green: no plaza, no programming. This should be designed like a neighborhood park, not a central square.
Guest on April 04, 2010, at 09:31AM – #6
I saw the plan as well, and it looks like there is a lot of grass. There are walking paths that divide the large grass area into two and we were told that one side would be higher than the other creating a berm. There's definitely more grass area than anything else in the drawing so I'm pleased to see that.
There is a small section of hardscaping, but according to what we were told, this was to accommodate what was requested and voted on by the community at a meeting where they voted on things they wanted in the park. And the small hardscaped area off to one side, makes for a nice entrance and gives the ability to bring things into the park via a truck for things like maintenance.
I didn't see the Spring Street park drawings. I hope they work in getting lots of grass too!