There’s a new opening in the Arts District—and for once it’s not another fancy coffee shop. Tomorrow, the once-industrial zone will get a community park, complete with a playground, grassy areas, picnic tables and a band-shell performance space for outdoor concerts.
A drought-smart design uses paved areas around the park to funnel and capture any rain water we do get into a special system that should account for up to 15 percent of the water needed each year to keep the green spaces green. The landscaping is also primarily native plants that don’t require much watering to begin with. One wall of the park will display a mural by a local artist that will rotate out each year and be replaced with a new piece.
In order to get to this point, the team behind the project had quite a few hurdles to cross, as L.A. Downtown News reports. First, there was where the $1.6 million budget would come from. The park had originally been funded by the Community Redevelopment Agency, but that agency was cut off in 2011, just as the project was getting underway. Funding then came out of a fund developers have to pay into when they build new structures, and they planned for a 2014 opening.
Another wrench got thrown in the works when investigations into soil contamination at the site led to the discovery of a collection of historical artifacts from the site’s previous life back in the late 1800’s. They found bottles of gonorrhea medicine, women’s stockings, roller skates and other items. Once everything could be removed and preserved appropriately, they were once again able to proceed.
The long-awaited Arts District Park at 501 South Hewitt Street will be celebrated with a public ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday at 1pm, followed by a free concert by Mystery Skulls, with refreshments provided by Urth Caffe and a voting session to select the mural.
Want more? Sign up here to stay in the know.