A few days ago, my boyfriend and I stumbled across the Los Angeles State Historic Park while driving around downtown. I had heard of the “Not a Cornfield” art project being installed there and I had also seen the competition images from Hargreaves Associates for the redesign, but I had never actually visited the site. So we took the opportunity to give Bogart (the dog) a little exercise.
Amphitheater and water taxi dock
Site plan
In 2006, the landscape/architect team of Hargreaves Associates and Michael Maltzan Architecture won the design competition with California State Parks for the development of the former 32-acre rail yard into an urban park. (FYI for all USC SOA people, Maltzan is also doing the addition to the Seeley Mudd bldg where we had our yearly orientations). Today, if the original schedule has stayed true, the team should be nearing the end of construction documents with a planned opening date of May 2012 for the first phase. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find any definite news on the project’s progress. I liked the gradient of program and treatment of nature from one end of the site to the other – all natural wetlands on the northeast to purely functional recreational park space on the southwest interface with the city.
Actually, the future of Los Angeles’ public urban space looks pretty bright once this and other initiatives are realized: “Park 101″ would cap part of the 101 freeway with a park and “Bringing Back Broadway” seeks to restore the historic theater district and add a streetcar system. All intend to increase mobility and livability in downtown Los Angeles by making pedestrian-friendly connections where there are none now.
In the meantime, there is a minimal, interim LA State Historic Park that seems to serve the community well as a flexible open space. There are grass fields with some trees, picnic tables, a telescope, an interpretive history installation, and a decomposed granite path that loops around the park’s perimeter. The park is also used as an event space. Fellow downtown dwellers have probably seen an ad card or two for the upcoming HARD LA MIA concert on July 17th (and like me, balked at buying a $60 ticket). The park is uncrowded and clean, populated mostly by joggers and their dogs. It feels like a very large, suburban tract park minus the playground. But the draw of coming here really, is the view. In a surreal moment, you are standing in a quiet, sprawling open field with the entire Los Angeles skyline juxtaposed on the horizon. Surprisingly, it made me wonder if an urban design and architecture overhaul would detract from the unique experience.
Click on any photo to enlarge. For more photos, see my flickr set.
Skyline from LA State Historic Park
LEFT: Park map for upcoming MIA concert // RIGHT: Bird on sunflower in cornfield
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