Downtown Eyesore to Become Green Space

One of the most prominent eyesores in downtown Los Angeles is finally being converted into a green space around the remains of a former state office building on 1st Street.

Landscaping work began this week on the fenced lot between Broadway and Spring Street and just across from City Hall.

Over the years, the trash-littered tract had become a campground for the homeless and drug users while development plans collapsed and authorities debated the land’s fate.

Under a new five-year contract, the operator of an adjacent parking lot is paying $250,000 for plantings and benches on lower portions of the 1st Street property that will be open to the public. Work is expected to be finished within two months.

Uphill, a wrought-iron fence is expected to be built around the remaining foundations of the 13-story state building, which was badly damaged during the 1971 Sylmar quake and later demolished. A proposal to allow snack carts or a coffee shop on that platform is being studied.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina described the project as a welcome but temporary solution until the land can be leased or sold for development. The county controls the block, which is also partly owned by the state and city.

“This is sort of a holding pattern, but we at least are going to make the whole area more attractive,” Molina said.

Until the deal fell through in late 1995, developer Raffi Cohen was to have built twin office towers on the land. Then more time passed as the parking lot contract was put out to bid, with the green space improvements as a new requirement.

The contract with Five Star Parking also calls for a tree-lined walkway to be built across its parking lot, linking the front of City Hall with the Civic Center Mall to the west.