Friends of the Hollywood Central Park Challenge Us to Design Our Own Park

Friends of the Hollywood Central Park (FHCP), a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a 44-acre street-level park over the Hollywood Freeway in a densely populated and park-poor area of the city, launched a new facet of thir website today to encourage everyone to tap their inner architect and create their own dream park. You can visit the Design Your Own Park Tool inside the Hollywood Central Park website by clicking here.

The new feature allows individuals to create their own version of Hollywood Central Park,  by offering a wide gamut of possibilities features to choose from. These range from large multipurpose fields, cafés, dog parks and libraries to the smaller features such as rocks, trees, stones and benches. For those with more time and immagination, it also adds the ability to invent your own park element at the exact location they desire, orient it as you wish, and write notes to explain your thinking.

“Knowing the level of interest in the community about Hollywood Central Park, we decided the best way to get input on what should be built was give everybody a chance to create their dream park,” said Laurie Goldman, FHCP president. “This is everybody’s park, and everybody should have an opportunity to submit their own ideas. Now they can, and in the process can be involved in creating Hollywood history!”

One of the first users of the new website is Council District 13's newly minted Council Member, Mitch O'Farrell. O'Farrell, a longtime proponent of the park since his time working in the field offices of his predecessor, is impressed by the new site's simplicity and the open-ness of inviting all to participate in the design process.

“Friends of the Hollywood Central Park continue to embrace community input through the use of cutting edge technology,” said O’Farrell via press release. “The new park planner feature on the organization's website allows real-time engagement, as well as visualization of another great public space in Los Angeles.”

Currently, the plans for the park are under environmental review, thanks to an $825,000 grant from the city and a $1.2 million from the Aileen Getty Foundation. The Draft Enviornmental Impact Report will be available for public comment in 2015.

The Design Your Own Park tool is sponsored not just by FHCP but also the Central Hollywood, East Hollywood and Hollywood Studio District Neighborhood Councils and the Hollywood Chamber Community Foundation.