LOS ANGELES
DOWNTOWN
NEWS
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Architectural awards, Downtown Dodgers night, and other happenings Around Town.
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An El Pueblo deadline is averted and a mediation process is about to begin.
W W W. D O W N T O W N N E W S . C O M
July 5, 2010
Volume 39, Number 27
INSIDE
Rise of the Mammals
At the Center of It All Carol Schatz Hits Two Decades of Growing Downtown at the Central City Association
Famous faces at the Press Club awards.
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by Jon RegaRdie executive editoR
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arol Schatz joined the Central City Association on July 2, 1990. At the time, Downtown Los Angeles was a 9-to5 community facing the start of a CONvErSaTiONS
Urban Scrawl on the ticket scandal.
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Downtown gets its glam going.
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recession and an exodus of Fortune 500 companies. By the time Schatz became president and CEO five years later, the CCA claimed fewer than 100 members and had a budget of $750,000. Its cash reserves
were at about $30,000. Two decades after her arrival, the lobbying and business advocacy organization is a powerful force in City Hall, and Schatz is its public and famously tenacious face. She has played a hand in almost every major aspect of Downtown’s tremendous growth, from spearheading the Downtown Center Business Improvement District (where she is also president and CEO) to helping create the adaptive reuse ordinance, which led to a housing renaissance. see Schatz, page 6
Park Powers Forward Green Component of Grand Avenue Plan, Including a Dog Park, to Have Groundbreaking Ceremony July 15
Tips to making exercise fun.
The $56 million Civic Park that is part of the Grand Avenue plan is poised to break ground next week. by Ryan vaillancouRt staff wRiteR
T Five great entertainment options.
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15 CALENDAR LISTINGS 16 MAP 17 CLASSIFIEDS
Grading Approval Sought For Eli Broad’s $100 Million Project Ryan vaillancouRt construction firm working on philanthropist Eli Broad’s proposed Grand Avenue art museum has filed for a permit to begin grading at the site. It is the strongest indication yet that Broad will choose Downtown Los Angeles as the location for the Broad Collections. Additionally, a person close to the proceedings, who asked not to be named because they do not have permission to comment publicly, told Los Angeles Downtown News
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rendering courtesy of Rios Clementi Hale Studios/Doug Jamieson
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Permit Filed for Grand Avenue Museum Site by Jon RegaRdie and
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Checking out MOCA’s Gorky show.
photo by Gary Leonard
Carol Schatz is president and CEO of the Central City Association, a lobbying and business advocacy organization with 450 members. July 2 marked her 20th anniversary with the CCA.
he Grand Avenue Authority is poised to grant final approval this week to construction plans for the Grand Avenue project’s Civic Park, setting the stage for work to begin July 12 on the $56 million project. A ceremonial groundbreaking will be held three days later. The Community Redevelopment Agency and County Board of Supervisors have signed off on the plans, but the joint powers authority overseeing the stalled Grand Avenue project must give the final green light. The panel meets July 7, and if the documents are approved, preliminary construction work could start right away, but will likely wait until the following week. Barring any unexpected changes
or hurdles, “The date is July 12,” said Barry Widen, vide president of construction for Related of California, the developer of the $3 billion project formally titled The Grand. “That’s the day we’re going to actually start.” Barbara Casey, a spokeswoman for the project, said that civic and business leaders will gather at the site on July 15 for a groundbreaking ceremony. The park is expected to take about two years to complete. Backers of the plan see it as a milestone for the Civic Center and Downtown, saying it will give a facelift to a public space that has been severely underused for years. “I think it will create major public open space that will become the epicenter of the city and the primary place for public gatherings and concerts, arts and crafts fairs and things see Park, page 8
that the plan is to begin construction on a parking garage for the museum by August or September. Broad has said the museum, which still needs approval from the County Board of Supervisors and the joint powers authority overseeing the Grand Avenue project, would be set on top of the garage so it could face Grand Avenue. He said in May that he hopes to open the $100 million facility in 2012. He would also provide a $200 million endowment. Broad has yet to publicly state whether he will choose Downtown see Museum, page 9
photo by Gary Leonard
A construction firm has applied for grading permits for the site of Eli Broad’s proposed art museum. Broad has said he hopes to open it by 2012.
The Voice of Downtown Los Angeles