I rolled my eyes a few years ago when AEG proclaimed that L.A. Live would be like Times Square of the West.
Yeah, right, I thought. Good luck with that. After all, a true Times Square-like town plaza must be widely recognized – accepted, really – by the community as its central gathering place. It must be the one spot where locals go to celebrate or mourn or mark the seasons or just hang out because, well, people yearn to be at the center, in the heart of a city. It’s got to get worn by use. In the public eye.
And L.A. Live? Only a year and a half ago, many Angelenos were dimly aware that it was under construction. Fewer still probably had a clue where it was. How could that vacant place be embraced as our Times Square?
Well, it’s only been a year since L.A. Live more or less opened, and darned if AEG isn’t pulling it off.
Pretty much every evening this month – granted, it’s a busy month – there’s some holiday-oriented event. There’s all manner of charity fundraisers and toy drives; a Hanukkah candle lighting ceremony was scheduled for Dec. 13 and there was a Christmas tree lighting ceremony earlier. In other words, L.A. Live is definitely a place to go to mark this holiday season.
There’s an outdoor ice-skating rink this month in the main square, the L.A. Auto Show was at the nearby Convention Center, and there were basketball games at Staples Center, concerts, meetings and movies. L.A. Live is getting plenty of use; it’s become a place to hang out.
You’ll recall in the summer and even into the fall when L.A. Live and Staples Center were ground zero for the Michael Jackson memorial fest. That made L.A. Live the place to go to mourn. Or to celebrate his life.
In short, L.A. Live is becoming this community’s Times Square.
I repeat, it is becoming. It’s not there yet. Some evenings L.A. Live is more like L.A. Dead. It’ll help when the 54-story condo-hotel complex opens early in 2010.
More importantly, some Angelenos will tell you that L.A. Live can never be a true town square. That’s because it’s corporately owned. Indeed, it is an oxymoron to have a privately owned public square. Critics point out, rightly so, that any event at L.A. Live is somehow controlled or managed by AEG. That doesn’t exactly engender freedom of expression for any group that would like to stage some offbeat thing at L.A. Live.
Personally, I’m little concerned by that. Any group that would be snubbed by AEG could go elsewhere, so it’s not as if voices would be squelched. Besides, the advantages of corporate ownership are obvious. Unlike lots of publicly owned town squares, L.A. Live will be lively, safe and clean, thanks to AEG.
I’m more concerned about something else: It’s too small.
L.A. Live’s square is only 40,000 square feet. If you could cram one person per square foot, that means it could hold only 40,000 people. Granted, people could jam in all around it and fill up the restaurants and side streets. But L.A. Live still could not compete, crowdwise, with Times Square, where 1 million people routinely show up for New Year’s Eve.
Chick Hearn Court, the street that separates L.A. Live from Staples Center, could be closed or made a limited-use street. That could let L.A. Live breathe a little. But that would only elevate L.A. Live from “small” to “smallish.” It would still be too little to be a true Times Square.
Still, AEG was basically right. L.A. Live is becoming Times Square of the West. At least, it’s as close as we’ve got to one.
Charles Crumpley is editor of the Business Journal. He can be reached at [email protected].
