Photo: Eric Richardson at Blogdowntown

Yesterday morning, the LA Times unveiled Rios Clementi Hale’s new design for the Civic Center Park, which will be under construction in the spring of 2010.  Reaction to the plan, be it from the LA Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne or downtowners at Blogdowntown has been more negative than positive.  Before jumping into your own analysis, make sure to read this synposis of changes at Curbed, the story going over the basics at the Times and the collection of images at Blogdowntown.

Personally, I’m torn between being excited that funding for the park is in place and construction should begin by the Spring of next year, and sharing some of the concerns others have expressed with the park.  While I wouldn’t go as far as Hawthorne who says the park has no identity or some of the readers at Curbed who believe it’s just going to be a glorified dog park that’s taken over by the homeless.  Our downtown desperately needs green space, and personally this is something for which I can’t wait.

So what do you think Streetsbloggers?  What’s right or wrong with the plan for Civic Center Park, and what changes would you make if you could?