County Gives Key Approval To Grand Avenue Park

A model of L.A. Civic Park.

The County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved key leases and funding for what would arguably be the city's grandest public green space outside Griffith Park. The $83 million L.A. Civic Park, however, appears to have more concrete than greenery, and its expanse, from the Music Center to City Hall, would often be used for "programmable" paved spaces that could be hogged by sponsor-driven events, as the Weekly reported last year.

The board voted 4-1, however, with Mike Antonovich opposing, to go forward with the keystone of downtown's long-stalled Grand Avenue Project, which would also include at least one luxury hotel and several retail spaces.

The park will utilize funding from a developer called the Related Cos., which has pledged $56 million; another $27 million is coming from state funds intended to house the homeless and battered women but which have a loophole for improvements of public areas near affordable housing.

Some have criticized putting so much public money behind a project that will buttress so much private enterprise in a city where good urban parks are often scarce in the neighborhoods that could use them most.