Park in Los Angeles, California
Gloria Molina Grand Park
, commonly known as
Grand Park
, is a 12-acre (4.9 ha) park located in the
civic center
of
Los Angeles, California
. First developed in 1966 as the 'Civic Center Mall' with plazas, fountains and a Court of Flags,
[2]
[3]
it is now a part of the larger redevelopment known as the
Grand Avenue Project
, with its first phase having opened in July 2012.
[4]
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.
[5]
Park programming and entertainment, security and upkeep are maintained by the nearby
Los Angeles Music Center
.
[5]
Grand Park stretches between the
Los Angeles City Hall
and the Los Angeles Music Center on
Grand Avenue
.
[6]
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
.
[7]
History
[
edit
]
First proposed as a park by landscape architect
Charles Mulford Robinson
in 1907 inspired by the
City Beautiful
movement, but was never developed. After years of proposing the clustering of Los Angeles County government buildings in one place, the county and city finally accomplished that goal with a centralized park in 1957. The park was completed as "Civic Center Mall" in 1966.
[3]
Re-development of Grand Park began in 2010 at a cost of $56 million.
[8]
$50 million provided by Related Companies, the developer planning the nearby
Grand Avenue Project
. The parks later phase includes a Frank Gehry-designed mixed-use development. Due to the
Great Recession
in the early
2010s
, the development was pushed back, commencing construction in 2019.
[9]
Other phases of the project remained stalled, but the park and grand avenue project moved forward thanks to a special agreement between the joint powers authority overseeing the project and its developer.
On March 21, 2023, supervisor
Hilda Solis
introduced a motion to rename Grand Park to Gloria Molina Grand Park, honoring supervisor
Gloria Molina
's contributions for the park's redevelopment after Molina's announcement of terminal cancer.
[10]
It was approved unanimously by the Board of Supervisors the day it was introduced.
[11]
A motion to endorse the renaming passing in the
Los Angeles City Council
, with Mayor
Karen Bass
also endorsing it.
Management
[
edit
]
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.
[12]
Activities
[
edit
]
By virtue of the mostly sunny weather, the park also features programs year-round.
[13]
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.
[14]
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.
[9]
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.
[14]
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.
Transportation
[
edit
]
Direct access to the park is available on the
Los Angeles Metro
B
and
D
lines at
Civic Center/Grand Park station
. The park is also accessible via the
J Line's
1st Street
/
Hill Street
stop, or its Spring Street/City Hall stop.
[15]
Several
local
,
rapid
and
express
Metro bus routes also share the same 1st Street/Hill Street stop at the civic center.
Significant events
[
edit
]
The park is host to the United States' "west coast flagship"
New Year's Eve
celebration. Los Angeles' first free major public New Year's celebration, shortened to "N.Y.E.L.A.".
[16]
The first edition was held December 31, 2013 ? January 1, 2014. The first event, which included food trucks, art installations, light shows, concert stages, drew an estimated 25,000 spectators.
Every year since, at 11:55 p.m., a
light projection
show is displayed onto the side of
Los Angeles City Hall
and other municipal buildings, displaying visual art before ultimately counting down to midnight with the crowd. The art is in collaboration with
The LA Music Center
. It is intended to become an annual celebration, with the hope that it would rival other major cities' festivities in years to come. So much so they added fireworks in 2015-16 celebration.
[17]
By the sixth annual (2018?19) event, Grand Park + The Music Center's N.Y.E.L.A. drew over 50,000 guests. Doubling its inaugural event attendance.
[18]
Aloe Blacc
was the featured artist in 2018?19.
[19]
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.
[20]
The music video for "
Play That Song
" by
Train
was partly filmed in front of the
Arthur J. Will Memorial Fountain
,
[21]
as was the 2003 Miller Lite commercials "Catfight" and the films
Pretty Woman
and
500 Days of Summer
.
[22]
On September 22, 2019, Armenia's Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinyan
held a rally at the park that was attended by around 10,000
Armenian Americans
.
[23]
[24]
During the
2028 Summer Olympics
the park will serve as a venue for the marathon, race walk and road cycling.
[25]
Gallery of images of Civic Center Mall from the Historic American Buildings Survey
[
edit
]
Memorials, markers and statuary
[
edit
]
-
Sakura Grove
-
Ukrainian genocide memorial
-
Pobladores memorial and map
-
George Washington statue
-
Christopher Columbus statue (removed)
[26]
-
-
Vietnam veterans memorial
-
Mosaic law statue
See also
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Grand Park
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Vaillancourt, Ryan (29 May 2012).
"Music Center to Operate Civic Park"
.
Los Angeles Downtown News - The Voice of Downtown Los Angeles
. Retrieved
20 May
2021
.
- ^
"Grand Park - FAQs"
.
grandpark.lacounty.gov
. Archived from
the original
on 2012-08-19.
- ^
a
b
"Grand Park: Los Angeles, California"
.
American Planning Association
.
- ^
Allen, Sam (25 July 2012).
"New park in downtown Los Angeles inspires grand hopes"
. Archived from
the original
on 26 July 2012 – via LA Times.
- ^
a
b
Hawthorne, Christopher (2012-07-24).
"Downtown's Grand Park makes exuberant use of a tough spot: Review"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Archived from
the original
on 2012-07-26.
- ^
"Grand Park maps"
.
lacounty.gov
. Archived from
the original
on 2012-08-18
. Retrieved
2012-08-15
.
- ^
Jennifer Medina (August 18, 2012),
"Los Angeles Puts a New Park at Its Heart"
.
The New York Times
.
- ^
David Ng (June 27, 2012),
Downtown L.A.'s Grand Park readies for July 28 partial opening
Los Angeles Times
.
- ^
a
b
Peter Slatin (November 27, 2012),
Simple Start of a Bold Vision for Downtown Los Angeles
New York Times
.
- ^
Ellis, Rebeca (March 21, 2023).
"Downtown L.A.'s Grand Park to be renamed in honor of longtime Supervisor Gloria Molina"
.
Los Angeles Times
.
- ^
"DTLA's Grand Park to be renamed in honor of Gloria Molina"
.
KTTV
. March 21, 2023.
- ^
Mike Boehm (June 25, 2014),
Supervisor Molina starts new foundation to oversee Grand Park
Los Angeles Times
.
- ^
Jennifer Medina (August 18, 2012),
Los Angeles Puts a New Park at Its Heart
New York Times
.
- ^
a
b
Mike Boehm (December 29, 2012),
Grand Park holds grand potential for Music Center
Los Angeles Times
.
- ^
"Go Metro to Grand Park"
.
www.metro.net
. Retrieved
2021-05-20
.
- ^
"West Coast's Flagship New Year's Eve Celebration Planned in Grand Park"
. Dec 31, 2018.
- ^
Saillant, Catherine; Schaefer, Samantha (January 1, 2014).
"Grand Park New Year's Eve bash called a success"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
November 2,
2014
.
- ^
"Grand Park's 2019 New Year celebration attended by thousands in DTLA"
.
Daily News
. 2019-01-01
. Retrieved
2019-02-23
.
- ^
"New Year's Eve, Los Angeles. Countdown to 2021. Grand Park + The Music Center"
.
nyela.grandparkla.org
.
- ^
Boxall, Bettina. "
Memorial to Armenian genocide unveiled in L.A.'s Grand Park
."
Los Angeles Times
. September 17, 2016. Retrieved on September 19, 2016.
- ^
"Grand Park"
.
facebook.com
.
- ^
"The "Pretty Woman"/"(500) Days of Summer" Fountain and Park"
.
iamnotastalker.com
. Apr 16, 2010
. Retrieved
2021-05-20
.
- ^
Karapetyan, Araksya
(22 September 2019).
"Thousands gathered in downtown L.A. as Armenian Prime Minister holds rally"
.
foxla.com
.
KTTV
. Archived from
the original
on 24 September 2019.
- ^
Kucera, Joshua (23 September 2019).
"Pashinyan takes "Velvet Revolution" on the road to L.A."
EurasiaNet
. Archived from
the original
on 24 September 2019.
- ^
"Stage 2 - Governance, Legal and Venue Funding"
(PDF)
.
la24-prod.s3.amazonaws.com
. Retrieved
2021-05-20
.
- ^
"Joint Statement Regarding the Christopher Columbus Statue in Grand Park"
.
LA County Arts Commission
. 2018-10-03
. Retrieved
2019-02-23
.
External links
[
edit
]
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