Plan for Olvera Street Revitalization Advances
A City Council committee on Thursday unanimously approved stripping the Recreation and Parks Department of its authority over historic Olvera Street and creating a citizens’ board to manage the 18th-Century marketplace.
The 2-0 vote by the Arts, Health and Humanities Committee moves forward long-stalled plans to restore and revitalize the downtown plaza on which the city was founded in 1781.
The future of Olvera Street and the adjacent Pico-Garnier block was hotly debated last year when council members Gloria Molina and Richard Alatorre disagreed on how best to manage and operate the bustling Mexican market.
The lawmakers were in agreement, however, that the Recreation and Parks Department and its oversight commission are ill-equipped to manage and operate the site.
As a result, they put forth a plan to form a new, single-purpose authority to govern the historic park.
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