The idea of creating a public park out of thin air above the Hollywood Freeway may not be a pie-in-the-sky notion anymore.
Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles) has agreed to request $5.85 million to launch planning for the park. That’s viewed as a crucial early step and vote of confidence.
“We were surprised,” said Laurie Goldman, president of the non-profit created to spearhead the effort, Friends of the Hollywood Central Park. “We didn’t think we would make it this round, but we did. It doesn’t mean we will get what we asked for, but it’s a huge first step of many steps.”
The park, which would be built on a concrete cap atop the Hollywood (101) Freeway, has been favored largely by business groups. The money to build the park – estimated at $950 million – would come mainly from foundations.
Of course, there’s no guarantee that the federal funding for planning will win approval. But if it does, it could put the park on a slide toward reality. That’s significant partly because the idea for the park has been viewed by some as a nice concept that probably wouldn’t go anywhere, especially with the downturn in the economy.
The Business Journal first reported the park proposal in October 2006. Don Scott, senior vice president at First Financial Bancorp, told his fellow Hollywood Chamber of Commerce board members about the idea and they adopted it.
The chamber called for a park that would cover from Hollywood to Sunset boulevards between North Bronson Avenue and North Wilton Place. That would mean stretching the park over the freeway on a platform, or “cap,” that would turn the open-air freeway into a tunnel.
Councilman Eric Garcetti led a City Council vote in 2007 that expanded the project, which now would stretch from Hollywood to Santa Monica boulevards and boost the parkland to 44 acres.
The project would generate 4,500 construction jobs in the short term.
Gary Toebben, president and chief executive of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, said the park’s biggest economic benefit would be in the long term: The grassy tree-lined area would boost business for nearby establishments and drive the development of new ones.
“Having a park there will do what other parks do – encourage people to come there and walk around,” Toebben said. “Usually, that’s a real asset to the businesses around the park. And certainly, it’s a place right now where it’s a freeway, so you don’t have people who are lingering in that area right there because it’s not possible.”
Leron Gubler, president and chief executive of the Hollywood chamber, said his organization has supported the plan because it would be good for area businesses.
“We wouldn’t have undertaken the project if we didn’t think this would be good for the businesses,” Gubler said. “It takes the community to the next level.”
Needing green
Hollywood has seen a boom in apartment and condo buildings thanks to efforts to revitalize the area. Those include the W Hollywood Hotel & Residences, with 143 condos and an adjacent apartment building, and the Sunset Vine Tower, a mixed-used development with 63 luxury apartments.
As the redevelopment of Hollywood continues, the need for green space becomes more apparent. While all of Los Angeles has 0.012 acres of open space per resident, one of the lowest ratios in the state, Hollywood has far less at only 0.005 acres per resident.
“The benefits are incredible for a community that’s starved of open green space and children who have never been on a picnic,” said Goldman, who’s been working on the project since it was proposed. “What better use of our freeways but to cover them with a park?”
The chamber worked behind the scenes to build support among local developers, neighborhood councils, elected officials and, most importantly, the California Department of Transportation. The City Council then approved funding for an economic feasibility study and park backers began meeting with community members to discuss how the space should be designed. Meanwhile, Goldman and others formed a non-profit, Friends of Hollywood Central Park, to coordinate predevelopment planning.
Backers of the park met with Becerra during a chamber trip to Washington in March, and convinced the congressman to request the money, which would pay for reports required under the California Environmental Quality Act, civil engineering and design plans, and land-use and entitlement applications toward the project.
The plan discussed in the feasibility study includes a small, informal amphitheater, a baseball field next to Helen Bernstein High School, a picnic and playground area, sculpture garden and a large, multipurpose plaza at Fountain Avenue and St. Andrews Place.
The feasibility study puts the cost at about $950 million, with government funding covering some of the costs and foundations paying the remainder. The study stated that likely contributors would be the California Endowment, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the California Wellness Foundation. The groups are committed to projects related to air quality and environment health.
One foundation representative said that his organization backs park projects, but it hasn’t been involved in anything as big as Hollywood Central Park.
“We have funded projects that improve quality of life and environment, especially in low-income communities, in the past,” said Eric Brown, a communications director at the Hewlett Foundation. “It’s usually through some kind of organization such as Trust for Public Land, although never at a scale of this size.”
Indeed, the eye-popping price tag is the park’s biggest hurdle.
“It’s expensive,” Toebben acknowledged. “And I think that is the major challenge and one of the reasons why the project was part of our agenda in Washington.”
Goldman said Friends of Hollywood Central Park has been working to raise funds for an environmental impact report, which the organization hopes will be under way by the beginning of this summer, and a study by Beacon Economics looking at the impact the park would have on the local economy.
“Before you know it, we will have a park and won’t even remember how long it took us to get there,” Goldman said.
