For generations, leaders have vowed to unify the landmark institutions in Los Angeles' Civic Center area into a vibrant public space. Grand plans have been floated since the 1920s -- only to die for a lack of money or interest.
On Thursday, officials will unveil what many consider L.A.'s best shot for a bold civic space -- a 16-acre park that would flow east from the cultural institutions atop Bunker Hill, around a cluster of government buildings and ending dramatically at the steps of City Hall.
The design, created by Rios Clementi Hale Studios, calls for four zones -- an event lawn for rallies and concerts, a community terrace featuring a multicultural garden, a performance space with a stage, and a plaza whose centerpiece would be the historic Arthur J. Will Memorial Fountain.
The proposed L.A. park also would physically reunite the Civic Center with Bunker Hill, 50 years after a huge redevelopment project leveled the old neighborhood and replaced it with skyscrapers.
The space between City Hall and the Music Center, now a jumble of concrete plazas and parking lots, has long been envisioned as a connector between government and cultural institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art, Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
Officials looked for inspiration in other recent city park projects such as Millennium Park in Chicago, the new Jamison Square and Tanner Springs parks in downtown Portland, Ore., and the renovation of Bryant Park in New York. Those parks have created gathering places in the heart of urban neighborhoods that are magnets for residents and visitors alike.
"It would truly be a pedestrian-oriented oasis in all of our cement, steel and all that we have downtown," said L.A. County Supervisor Gloria Molina, who says the park will have a more open feel than other L.A. urban parks, such as Pershing Square, whose designs were aimed at discouraging crime and the homeless.
The design actually breaks the rectangular space into several mini-parks and -- perhaps more important in the current financial climate -- already has most of its $56-million budget in the bank.
"With the money at hand, this is what we can build," said architect Mark Rios.
Although the $3-billion Frank Gehry-designed Grand Avenue complex has stalled because of the faltering credit markets, officials say they have the money to push forward with the park plan.
