Earlier today, 14th District Councilmember Jose Huizar and the team behind Pershing Square Renew held a community meeting to provide updates on the planned $50-million redesign of Downtown Los Angeles' oldest park.

The five-acre space, bounded by Hill, Olive, 5th and 6th Streets, is poised for a dramatic makeover designed by the French landscape architecture firm Agence Ter, in coordination with local contractor Gruen Associates.  Their winning design, which was selected over three other finalists in 2016, called for lowering the park to street level by shaving down a portion of its underground garage - a proposal that would account for an estimated one-third of the project budget.  The current concrete-heavy design, installed in the early 1990s, would be replaced with grass.

New renderings presented today show the project as it balances the proposed redesign with "engineering realities."  Key changes from the images presented last year include the appearance of stairs along 6th and Hill Streets, as well as the relocation of the proposed shade pergola to Olive Street.  Other design elements, such as the removal of walls and parking ramps, are retained.

As of May 2017, the Pershing Square redesign had $2.5 million in committed public and private funds.