$11.9-Million Renaissance of Pershing Square Urged

An ambitious, $11.9-million proposal to overhaul historic Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles was recommended Wednesday by a group of business representatives after months of study.

The plan envisions a lush botanical garden that would include restaurants, a water sculpture, an entertainment area, a large crystal-like building and an elaborate evening laser show. It is by far the most sweeping of a series of revitalization proposals that have come and gone over the years.

“We have concluded that a successful change for Pershing Square will require a radical and dramatic transformation, not a modest one,” said Wayne Ratkovich, chairman of the Pershing Square Management Assn., a nonprofit business organization that is operating the park under a lease from the city.

The actual design of the plan approved by the association Wednesday still must be finalized and approved by the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency and the Recreation and Parks Commission. Although details of the financing plan have not been developed, the association said it will require a combination of public and private financing.

If all goes smoothly, including an extensive fund-raising campaign that might include the selling of private sponsorships for everything from benches to sculptures, construction could begin in early 1988, association officials said.

With the exception of a brief, hopeful renaissance around the time of the 1984 Olympics, Pershing Square--the city’s oldest dedicated park and one of the few open spaces downtown--has been primarily a gathering spot for street people. Office workers often avoid the square, despite sporadic attempts to draw in workers with concerts and other activities.

The growth of some commercial development around the square, where millions of square feet of new hotel and office buildings are being built or planned, has given new impetus to efforts to revitalize the one-block square park bounded by 5th, 6th, Olive and Hill streets.

The Pershing Square Management Assn. ran into financial problems after its first less ambitious revitalization effort, faltered after the Olympics. Faced with large debts, the association obtained a $1.6-million, low-interest loan from the redevelopment agency on the promise of coming up with a major new redevelopment plan that would be largely privately funded and self-supporting.

The new plan will attempt to make the park “the city’s preeminent civic space”--a major downtown attraction for office workers and tourists, as well as for the middle-class that planners hope to entice to live in the Central City.

The proposed botanical garden recalls the park’s tropic-like design during the 1920s and ‘30s before a huge underground parking structure was added and the current thinly planted surface design was adopted.

Under the new proposal, an outdoor cafe would overlook a performance area. A large, transparent glass-like structure would house an “elegant” restaurant that would spill outdoors.

The historic theme of the square would be extended to the streets around the park through use of old-style bus benches, lampposts and sidewalk pavings.

Ratkovich said an earlier proposal to relocate the Los Angeles Children’s Museum was not found feasible and is no longer being considered.

Business Leaders

The introduction of additional commercial activities into the square, the funding for the project and how to deal with street people in the area are expected to be debated as the proposal progresses. James Wood, chairman of the redevelopment agency board, said, “There’s a lot of potential for discussion surrounding this.”

Gary Blasi, a legal aid attorney who has represented many downtown homeless, said he is skeptical of the assurances of the business leaders that they are not trying to force street people out of the park.

“I’m not opposed to the yuppies having their playground. But the other folks ought to have some place to go to,” he said.