Downtown--That’s Where It Is for the Lunchtime Crowd
The jazz group was singing about life in the jungle, and the crowd of about 1,000, having spent the morning in the vigorous if not predatory world of big business, laughed appreciatively as they tapped toes, chomped away on designer pizza, teriyaki burgers, tofu salads, and basked in the mid-day sun. Some lounged at umbrella tables, others brought blankets and sprawled on the grass, unmindful of any abuse to their pin-striped suits and tailored dresses.
“This is a perfect break in the day,” said Fred Weeman, between bites of his lunch. The Coldwell Banker real estate buyer, in shirt sleeves, had walked a couple blocks to enjoy the spectacular concrete skyline, fresh air, and of course, listen to the free lunchtime jazz concert on the pool deck of the downtown Bonaventure Hotel.
Weeman, like thousands of other savvy Los Angeles office workers, is a veteran of this unique and burgeoning cultural phenomena. Throughout downtown, shopping centers, hotels and other businesses are offering a variety of music, dance and theater presentations to lure workers not only at lunchtime, but to spur them to have fun downtown after work instead of rushing back to the suburbs.
“We are reinforcing the image that downtown is a place where things are really happening,” explained Cathy Boire, public relations director for the Bonaventure. A recent concert by the popular jazz group Hiroshima, drew a crowd of 3,500. Recently the hotel sponsored a free cocktail hour called “Business After Hours” where downtown workers mingled for cocktails and enjoyed a skyscraper sunset view. The hotel has been presenting the free Thursday concerts for several years, but this summer competition has picked up considerably, with many businesses presenting similar programs.
Free Concerts
For example, nearby Music Center of Los Angeles County, offers free Thank God It’s Friday concerts. Among the offerings are Caribbean music, African song and dance, and a jazz trio. At the Seventh Street Market Place shopping plaza, soft rock and jazz concerts are held Tuesdays from 11:30 to 1:30 p.m., and Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. Next month a Shakespeare festival is planned.
Most of the events are financed by the business involved. Some like the Bonaventure obtained cultural grants from big businesses like Arco and Coors to pay for the entertainment. While the entertainment is free, the concert-goers buy their own lunches, usually from nearby fast-food restaurants, thus spurring even more business. And many return for dinner and shopping, once they are better acquainted with the area.
“Downtown is one of the grand undiscovered places. We have the business district, loft area, Little Tokyo, Broadway’s international flavor. It’s wonderful” enthused Jack Kyser, chief economist for the area Chamber of Commerce.
It wasn’t always that way, he said, explaining that like many large cities, the downtown suffered a decline after World War II when suburban commuting became commonplace. In recent years, with the growth of the business district and projects such as that in the Bunker Hill area, vitality has begun to return.
Image Problem
But the image problem persists. Some who haven’t ventured downtown still suffer from the misconception that all of it is run-down, seedy and crime plagued, Kyser said.
“We still have a nine-to-five downtown.” Kyser said, explaining that workers for the most part don’t stay downtown after hours, travelers on business are usually gone by Thursday afternoon, and tourists generally choose to quarter in more famous areas such as Beverly Hills.
Kyser recently showed downtown to some business acquaintances whose only forays had been to the Music Center. “They were used to coming off the freeway going into the parking garage, going to the theater and back to the Westside. They were astounded. They kept saying, ‘I didn’t know this is here. It’s beautiful.’ ”
Philip Borhaug, a 30-year-old Glendale painter who attended the Bonaventure concert, agreed that the city was livelier than he had thought.
“This is really something,” Borhaug said. On jury duty downtown, he had been steered to the entertaining lunch by another juror. “I’m going to miss this when I have to go back to work in Glendale. I wish they had something like this where I’m at. Better yet, I wish downtown was closer.”
