Grand Central Taking Castle Cues?

I called Grand Central Market's office and they told the sidewalks are being replaced. I thought that was done a few years ago. (I recall some very noisy and very late nights of construction during that time.)

What is the real hassle is the removal of the Rapid bus stops from Third. My wife and I go up and down Broadway all the time to the market via the Rapid. It was always so convenient the buses stopped on Third right in front of the market. I hope the relocation of the Rapid stops is not permanent.

I noticed the same last week, thought maybe some new work was starting on the structure itself.

"Sidewalks being replaced" could mean any of the following: fixing cracked sidewalks; changing sidewalks to new texture/look; widening sidewalks; changing the sidewalks to accomodate newly-planted trees and/or sidewalk furniture. I'd like to believe the work represents improvements, rather than just maintenance.

I'd also like to believe that this is being done in conjunction w. the Pan-Am Lofts project. Imagine a Broadway where businesses actually coordinated their local improvements, in order to begin to bring some unity to their corner of the chaos. If coordinated efforts like this became the norm, we might actually see my vision of a No-Fo (North of Fourth) district of the Historic Core become a reality.

Hello Eric. Here's some info regarding the Broadway Sidewalks Reconstruction [Grand Central and 3rd Street Project]...

Background: The sidewalks in the area of Third and Broadway are over existing basements, and the basement ceilings that are under the sidewalks support the sidewalks. Over the years, the structural integrity of the basement ceilings has deteriorated to the point that it threatens sidewalk collapse. In response to this safety concern, the City of Los Angeles has steel plated the weak sections of the sidewalks and closed off / barricaded certain other weak sidewalk areas to pedestrians.

Action: On April 26, 2006 the City of Los Angeles awarded a contract for reconstruction of the sidewalks along the west side of Broadway in front of Grand Central Market, the Million Dollar Theater as well as along the south side of 3RD St from Broadway to mid block before Hill St.

As you know, the City Contractor has mobilized to start the construction activities. Initial site preparation work, such as re-striping the road and installation of barricades at the roadway for construction staging and pedestrian control purposes has already taken place. Work in the basements and the sidewalk areas should be complete by December 2006.

If you or your readers have immediate concerns regarding sidewalk reconstruction, please contact Didar Khandker, Construction Manager, City of LA, at (213) 485-4653 or Armando Bernal, Superintendent of Construction, at (626) 590-0795. Mr. Bernal will be available at the construction site during construction hours.

For overall concerns and/or project questions, one can contact Dan Weissman [Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles] at (213) 977-2687 or e-mail: dweissman at cra.lacity.org.

Hopefully this info answers a few of you and your reader's questions... Thanks for keeping all of us Downtowners informed on the day-to-day issues that matter. Keep up the great work!

I just drove by there, and there was a full crew present, saw-cutting the concrete at 11:00pm! I feel very bad for the people living in the apartments.