About Friends of the Hollywood Central Park 101 FreewayOnce upon a time and more than 27 years ago, longtime Hollywood resident and landscape architect, Edward V. Hunt had a dream to create much needed open space in Hollywood by building a “cap” over the 101 Freeway. A reasonable and practical dream since the Freeway formed a trench through the heart of Hollywood which provided ample air space upon which to build a park. Although he never gave up on his dream, not much came of it during the intervening years. They say timing is everything and Ed’s dream was revived, in 2006, by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Through the dedication of Chamber Board members Don Scott, Jeff Briggs and Laurie Goldman, a coalition was formed to gather support within the greater Hollywood area. Not surprisingly, support came in the form of Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti (CD 13), CRA/LA and Hollywood stakeholders themselves, who agreed that the time was NOW to pursue the innovative idea of “capping” the freeway. A feasibility study was commissioned through seed money provided by CRA/LA and through corporate and individual donations. With active community-wide participation, EDAW produced its study detailing engineering and design ideas that proved that “capping” the Hollywood Freeway was not only feasible — but doable!  Enter Friends of the Hollywood Central Park (FHCP) a non-profit organization, created, in 2008, to raise funds to create this new park in Hollywood. Nurtured by the hard work and commitment of a diverse Board of Directors, FHCP steadfastly devotes its time and energy to realizing the dream of building the Hollywood Central Park. It has been said that it “takes a village to raise a child” and it also “takes a village to build the Hollywood Central Park.” FHCP’s village includes a broad range of participation from our elected leaders in Washington, DC, to the architectural and planning communities, to educational institutions, to like-minded organizations and associations, and first and foremost, to the Hollywood community. It is through these valuable partnerships that the Hollywood Central Park will be built. As we move forward, Friends of the Hollywood Central Park is committed to rethinking and re-imagining our physical environment through the creation of green open space which will feed our hearts, nourish our souls and redefine our relationships to each other. FHCP is dedicated to the noble, worthy and socially significant cause of building the Hollywood Central Park. Dreams really do come true! |
