A Park For Downtown Los Angeles

Included in the redevelopment project for Bunker Hill is a 16-acre civic park that would stretch from City Hall to the Music Center. The Los Angeles Grand Avenue Authority has been developing a plan for this public space. Meanwhile, Martin Kaplan, an associate dean at the USC Annenberg School’s Norman Lear Center isn’t happy with the process, so his school created the “Grand Avenue Intervention” contest to develop alternate ideas for the park’s design. Now people are asking: should the park look like the Mall in Washington DC or more akin to the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris? How about including a nature preserve? Larry discusses some of the controversial new suggestions that emerged from this end-run around the planning process. Larry talks with Marty Kaplan, director of the Lear Center at the University of Southern California. He launched the “Grand Avenue Intervention”, a contest to solicit design idea for the park planned for the space between LA City Hall and the Music Center on Bunker Hill. He also talks with Bob Sipchen, an editor of the Current section of the Los Angeles Times, and City Councilwoman Jan Perry of the 9th District.