(standing (l-r): John Goodwin, Jerry Neuman, John Gallogly, Martha Hunt, Scott Rynders, Jacob Lipa, Alfredo Hernandez, Phil Aarons; seated (l-r): Cong. Jim Oberstar (ret.), Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, Laurie Goldman, Brian Folb, Scott Campbell, Ed Hunt and Cong. Adam Schiff)
FHCP’s Excellent Trip to Washington, DC
On March 18th, the Friends of the Hollywood Central Park delegation of 15 descended on our nation’s Capitol for its annual trip to advocate on behalf of the Hollywood Central Park. In the four days of intensive meetings, the delegation was able to speak to members of Congress from all political stripes, directors of federal programs and a Cabinet member. They listened and learned, treated us with respect and responded to our desire to help the Hollywood community with practical wisdom.
Some of our remarkable successes included a meeting with Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood in the offices of Representative Adam Schiff. Secretary LaHood, impressed by the possibilities of the Hollywood Central Park offered to create a working group within DOT to identify and implement next steps. According to Victor Mendez, Director of Highways who accompanied the Secretary, the Park project meets the four criteria of Sustainable Cities: economic stimulus, energy and environment, infrastructure and community. Representative Jim Oberstar (ret.), former Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, who commented, “[T]his Park is a once in a lifetime opportunity, it is groundbreaking. An enduring argument can be made to build the park because of its significant environmental contributions to the health of Los Angeles and reversing DOT’s past errors of building highways that separate communities.”
Two separate West Wing meetings allowed the delegation to present the Hollywood Central Park to the administration. A meeting with David Agnew, Director of White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs provided unequivocal support for HCP. Mr. Agnew agreed to discuss the Park project with the President and encourage him to visit the site on a future visit to Los Angeles. Staff of the White House Office of Public Engagement confirmed that HCP meets the administration’s goals and objectives of the Council on Community Solutions which include highlighting those making a significant impact in their own communities, engaging leaders in nonprofit, philanthropic and private sectors to make progress on key national policy goals and to provide strategic input and recommendations to help the federal government promote greater innovation and cross-sector collaboration to realize solutions to our nation’s toughest challenges.
Noteworthy is the amazing Representative Adam Schiff who demonstrated outstanding leadership and his significant commitment to the Park by delivering an exceptional and historic meeting with Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. With the guidance and support from Congressman Schiff, there is no doubt that, in the not too distant future, the Hollywood Central Park will be built.
In addition to discussing the economic benefits of the Park, the delegates focused their remarks on the Park as an urban transformational project and as a national pilot project for livability and sustainability. Highlights include:
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When density swells, open spaces shrinks. The Hollywood Central Park is an innovative alternative land use which integrates green strategies into passive and active open space, creating green networks and pedestrian systems.
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Since the freeway is already part of the inventory of publicly owned land, embedding a park space with environmental systems becomes a more cost effective strategy to protect the environment. The result is an existing infrastructure that is transformed to intertwine many community needs with multiple ecological functions. Hollywood Central Park demonstrates not just concealment of the freeway, but a strategy that integrates and enhances the driving experience while providing the community with open space that is culturally relevant, socially attentive and transforms an underutilized and incompatible single purpose infrastructure use into a community asset.
- Working with the USC School of Architectures Master Landscape Studio, FHCP and the USC students developed innovative strategies to better manage natural resources, including:
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Creation of an eco-corridor for wildlife and bird habitat
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Vernal detention pools which exhibit one of the world’s rarest ecosystems that successfully manages runoff and filters storm water
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Bio filtration through wet gravel with biofilm and misting jet phytoremediation pond
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Utilization of air scrubbing technologies, such as electrostatic precipitator filters and Packed Bed scrubbers which destroy contaminants and remove from exhaust stream before emitting into the atmosphere
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Utilization of soils which consumes pesticide and industrial pollutants and appropriate soil depth which play a major role in effective in-situ bioremediation
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Vertical Farming and Fish Farming (in rice paddy) provides a leisure zone and a productive functional space serving the community as a farm and marketplace
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Strategy of angulated surfaces offers a variety of opportunities to combine and maximize ecological performance and program use
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Habitat and native plants adapts local ecological characteristics to have performative abilities within the community
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Grassland irrigation and water reclamation
- Most major US cities have a network of freeways that travel below grade. By embedding a park space with environmental systems into an underutilized and incompatible single purpose infrastructure use a more cost effective strategy to protect the environment and provided much needed open space in a dense urban environment results. Strategies and outcomes of the Hollywood Central Park will serve as a national model for the creation of new green open space in a dense urban environment
If you are interested in joining FHCP’s March ’13 DC Advocacy trip, please contact Alfredo Hernandez by email at Alfredo.Hernandez@hfcp.org Delegates are responsible for their own airfare and accommodations. Dinners are hosted by FHCP.
