Grand Park is a 12-acre (4.9 ha) park located in the civic center of Los Angeles, California. It is part of the larger Grand Avenue Project, with its first phase having opened in July 2012. Grand Park is part of a joint venture by the city of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County. It was designed and built by the Los-Angeles-based multidisciplinary design firm Rios Clementi Hale Studios. Park programming and entertainment, security and upkeep are maintained by the nearby Los Angeles Music Center.
Grand Park stretches between the Los Angeles City Hall and the Los Angeles Music Center on Grand Avenue. It is designed to be pedestrian friendly and connects Bunker Hill to the civic center. The park plans include tree-shaded sidewalks, drought-tolerant plants, an interactive fountain plaza, performance lawns and courtyards, plenty of street lights, movable park furniture, and kiosks to encourage the walking and exploration of the area. City officials and some visitors have compared Grand Park to other well-established urban parks such as New York's Central Park or San Francisco's Union Square.
Prior to the creation of Grand Park, the area was already a public space with plazas, fountains and a Court of Flags.
Video Grand Park
Activities
By virtue of the mostly sunny weather, the park also features programs year-round. In 2012, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors allocated $3.3 million for the first year's operations, mainly to cover logistics such as security and maintenance, with $100,000 for programming. Events will be coordinated by the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County, which also oversees the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The inaugural event featured Bandaloop, a professed vertical dance company of aerialists, performing against the backdrop of Los Angeles City Hall. During the first six months, Grand Park hosted about 40 events. Some were bids for a mass audience, while others aimed to grab passers-by.
The Community Terrace features a large picnic table and lawn area for gatherings and viewing visuals projected on nearby wall of the Hall of Records. Open lawn space can be used for major public events such as New Year's Eve celebrations and festivals.
Maps Grand Park
Transportation
Direct access to the park is available on the Los Angeles Metro Red Line and Purple Line at the Civic Center/Grand Park station. The park is also accessible via the Silver Line's 1st Street/Hill Street stop or its Spring Street/City Hall stop. Several local, rapid and express Metro bus routes also share the same 1st Street/Hill Street stop at the civic center.
History
Construction on Grand Park began in 2010 and carries a price tag of $56 million. The park was paid for by $50 million from Related Companies, the developer planning the nearby building projects as part of the Grand Avenue Project. The park was supposed to be part of a later phase of a $775-million Frank Gehry-designed mixed-use development. But that changed when the Great Recession struck, undermining the condominium sales market that was a bedrock of the overall plan. Other phases of the project remained stalled amid the recession, but the park moved forward thanks to a special agreement between the joint powers authority overseeing the project and its developer.
Management
The Los Angeles Music Center's contract to operate Grand Park is expected to run until mid-2017; in addition, it earns in rents and fees charged to concessionaires and others. Routine security is provided by the Music Center's security department, and law enforcement services by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. In 2014, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved funding of $1 million for an independent nonprofit group, the Grand Park Foundation.
Significant events
On December 31, 2013-January 1, 2014, "N.Y.E. LA", Los Angeles' first major public New Year's Eve celebration, was held in the park. The event, which included food trucks, art installations, and various color and light shows, among other things, drew an estimated 25,000 spectators. At 11:59 p.m., a massive light projection onto the side of Los Angeles City Hall began, displaying various dramatic visual art before ultimately counting down to midnight with the crowd. It was intended to become an annual celebration, with the hope that it would rival other major cities' festivities in years to come (notably the ball drop in New York City's Times Square).
On August 30-31, 2014, Jay Z's Labor Day Made in America Festival was held in Grand Park featuring, Imagine Dragons, John Mayer, Kanye West, and many other performers.
An Armenian genocide memorial opened in September 2016.
The music video for "Play That Song" by Train was partly filmed in front of the Arthur J. Will Memorial Fountain.
During the 2028 Summer Olympics the park will serve as a venue for the marathon, race walk and road cycling.
Memorials, markers and statuary
See also
- Bunker Hill, Los Angeles
- Civic Center, Los Angeles
- Downtown Los Angeles
- Grand Avenue Project
- Los Angeles Music Center
- Pershing Square
References
External links
- LAcounty.gov: Official Grand Park website
0 Comments