blogdowntown
Not currently logged in. [Login or Create an Account]

Stay Connected



 

Pershing Square Getting a Statue of Cyrus the Great?

By Pamela Rouse
Published: Thursday, September 30, 2010, at 09:02AM
Pershing Square's Palm Court Eric Richardson []

Pershing Square's collection of statues and memorials is found in the park's Palm Court.

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Pershing Square’s statue collection currently contains two war memorials and a famous composer, but it could soon be adding its first emperor.

Cyrus the Great was founder of the Persian Empire in 600 BC. He reigned for approximately thirty years and is credited with leading massive military campaigns that expanded the empire into Southwest and Central Asia. He is known for fairness, allowing freedom of religion and cultural diversity under his rule.

He’s also a historic figure that Downtown property owner and Iranian-American Ezat Delijani thinks more Downtowners should know about.

City Council on Tuesday voted to move forward on Delijani’s offer to pay for the design, fabrication, installation and maintenance of a statue to Cyrus the Great in the Downtown park.

Councilwoman Jan Perry, who introduced the statue motion in May, says that she admires the reasoning behind Delijani’s request.

“He was inspired by a similar monument in Australia that was designed as a symbol of Cyrus the Great’s commitment to multiculturalism and cultural tolerance,” she explains. “This will be a great historic and artistic focal point in Downtown.”

The Australian work is a bas relief sculpture designed by Fereshteh Sadegh and created by artist Lewis Batros which was placed in Sydney’s Bicentennial Park in 1994.

The statue must still be approved by the Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners and the Cultural Affairs Commission.

SHARE:

||


Conversation

Guest 1

Guest on September 30, 2010, at 11:27AM – #1

So the statue is celebrating yet another military dictator who occupied the lands of others through force.

And we wonder why bullying is the #1 problem in schools today.


User_32

David McBane on September 30, 2010, at 12:11PM – #2

This just strikes me as odd. Honoring a dictator doesn't seem to be what L.A. should be doing.


User_32

Whitman Lam on September 30, 2010, at 12:51PM – #3

I thought this was Pershing Square ... not Persian Square. Though I admire the effort, a statue does not help anyone as much as, say, a park bench, water fountain, a children's playground, or dog park. Something that people can actually use would be nice.


Guest 2

Guest on September 30, 2010, at 12:58PM – #4

How about Delijani fix up his damn theaters first? I'm sick and tired of all the delay tactics. Hell, he can call one of them the Cyrus the Great Theater for all I care.


User_32

Sara Jones on September 30, 2010, at 02:36PM – #5

I'm sure the statue will be a great addition to the park. I encourage some of the previous posters to invest in a history book.


Nick Matonak on September 30, 2010, at 03:57PM – #6

This just seems amazing to me that Mr. Deljani would spend probably what is going to be close to a million dollars on this vanity project when his theaters (especially the Palace, which will be 100 years old in June 2011) are vacant and rotting with neglect on Broadway.


Guest 3

Guest on September 30, 2010, at 10:04PM – #7

Okay, this is just plain wierd. Why is Delijani, a billionaire, putting money into erecting some odd statue when he should be putting that money into his theatres? I just don't get it. I'm actually offended.


Guest 4

Guest on October 01, 2010, at 10:58AM – #8

The last park remodel resulted in the pushing of all the exisiting statues to a very strange corner of the park. This was obviously done because the historical references and traditional design of the sculptures did not fit with the new abstract theme of the park. The move was disrespectful in the first place. Now the US General that the park is named after, is banished to a corner of the park where he can wage an eternal battle with a Persian "General". This is just a little twisted. It is also a little disturbing that our leaders would so quickly agree entertain such an idea. Is it Pershing Square or not?


Guest 5

Guest on October 03, 2010, at 09:37AM – #9

I was thinking the other day about what Pershing Square needed, and a statue of a 7th century Persian emperor is the first thing that came to mind. Many feel that the park is a worthless eyesore and this is sure to change their minds.


Guest 6

Guest on October 15, 2010, at 05:06AM – #10

This whole article is wrong cyrus the great found the Persian empire in 530 BC not 600 AD and he was not a dictator just google cyrus cylinder


Guest 7

Guest on October 15, 2010, at 10:04AM – #11

Cyrus founded the founded empire around 523BC not 600AD!


Guest 7

Guest on October 15, 2010, at 10:05AM – #12

This would perhaps shed a better light into who Cyrus the Great was: http://www.livius.org/ct-cz/cyrus_I/cyrus_cylinder.html


Guest 8

Guest on October 15, 2010, at 10:42AM – #13

Cyrus the Great founded the Persian Empire when? 600 AD?! How can you post an article like this and not have an expert preview it first?!

Cyrus founded the Achaemenid Empire in about 550 BC. Here is a Wikipedia link to give you an overview:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_the_Great


Guest 9

Guest on October 17, 2010, at 11:37PM – #14

Just don't want it in the park. If he wants to help the community get involved with the park. Do something there everyone can enjoy. Invest in the cafe, dog park or summer stage. The statue is just about and for Iranians and I for one would rather have it be about downtowners.


Michael Hudson-Medina on October 29, 2010, at 12:03PM – #15

Like most everyone in Los Angeles, I have been too busy to catch this item back in May. I became aware of it through the LA Times article by Christopher Knight. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/10/a-new-sculpture-for-pershing-square.html I have been wanting Beethoven removed from the military monuments for some time now, so I wrote a proposal to the Delijani Family and Civic Leaders like Jan Perry to include moving Beethoven to the 5th and Olive area of the park, which is directly across from the dismantled Philharmonic Auditorium--home of the Phil for many,many years. Please help bring the spotlight back on Beethoven and not military figures.



Add Your Voice

In an effort to prevent spam, blogdowntown commenting requires that Javascript be enabled. Please check your browser settings and try again.

 

Search:


Story Location:

Loading... Please wait.




On Twitter

New Comments


Recommendations



blogdowntown Photo Pool

Photos of Downtown contributed by readers like you.

Downtown Blogs


Downtown Sites


Elsewhere