Destination Crenshaw facts for kids
| Established | 2019 |
|---|---|
| Location | Crenshaw Boulevard, Hyde Park, Los Angeles |
| Type | History and culture of African Americans |
| Architect | Zena Howard, (Gabrielle Bullock, managing principal) Perkins+Will |
Destination Crenshaw is an under-construction 1.3-mile-long (2.1 km) open-air museum along Crenshaw Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, dedicated to preserving the history and culture of African Americans. The project includes new pocket parks, outdoor sculptures, murals, street furniture, and landscaping.
Design
The design of the park features four nodes along its length, each featuring a theme celebrating the heritage of the area's African American art. The southernmost end of the project, called Welcome Park and themed "Improvisation", starts near Slauson Avenue. It features the Crenshaw Monument, a 120-foot-tall (6.1 m) totem that spells out Crenshaw in giant letters. The second node, themed "Firsts" is centered around 54th St and includes new pocket parks. The third node will be located at 50th Street near Crenshaw High School and is themed "Dreams". This node was inspired by local architect Paul Revere Williams (1894 – 1980). "The Crenshaw Wall" with an existing mural titled "Our Mighty Contribution" will be restored, protected, and lit. The long mural depicts the millennia of black history starting with the words, "In the beginning". The 800-foot mural (240 m) was painted in 2000 but the wall has been the site of murals and graffiti art celebrating black culture and social commentary since at least the 1960s. The northernmost end of the project ends at Sankofa Park, a large new public park adjacent to Leimert Park Metro station. Here, park visitors will be able to look north and south from an elevated viewing platform. A Sankofa bird is depicted with its head turned backwards while its feet face forward carrying a precious egg in its mouth. The nearby Leimert Plaza Park is a gathering place in Leimert Park Village which has served as a hub of African-American art and culture in Los Angeles.
The museum will have 100 permanent and temporary public artworks. Perkins and Will is the design firm for the project. Groundbreaking took place on Feb 29, 2020. Construction is slated for completion within the year.
Formation
The major commercial corridor for the Hyde Park, Leimert Park and Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw neighborhoods is known as "the heart of African American commerce in Los Angeles". The project was conceived to celebrate the Crenshaw business district as a black community amid fears of gentrification with the arrival of the Crenshaw/LAX light rail line and the NFL Stadium in Inglewood. In the midst of the transit construction and coming demographic changes, this placekeeping project celebrates being “unapologetically, authentically black.” Like Koreatown, Chinatown and Olvera Street, proponents want this project to provide an identity to this community and highlight the historic nature of South Los Angeles.
The office of Los Angeles Council member Marqueece Harris-Dawson has engaged the neighborhood in the project. He brought together leaders from South Los Angeles including artists, activists, curators, musicians, filmmakers, academics, community planners, and community organizers. The stakeholders and experts included Judith Baca, Ben Caldwell, Ron Finley, Mark Steven Greenfield, Darnell Hunt, and Nipsey Hussle before his death in March 2019. Issa Rae spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony at the end of Black History Month on February 29, 2020. Rae said this project is special to her as she is a native of the area.
Business owners and residents were upset that the light rail trains running at street level would remove parking spaces essential to the commercial area. The train tracks will be a barrier that further impacts local small businesses. As the light rail line brings the possibility of gentrification, efforts are being made to ensure the project benefits the people who already live along the route. The project has worked to support local businesses by providing infrastructure improvement grants for business owners who own their properties, including code compliance work, new parking spaces, building repairs and culturally stamped sidewalks. Contractors will be required to hire workers who are underrepresented minorities in the trades. Local artists have also been sought for the project.
The $100 million project has received government funding from the City of Los Angeles, the State of California, and Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board unanimously voted to approve $15 million for the construction of Sankofa Park as they were already responsible for site improvements including the sidewalk and curb after construction of the Crenshaw/LAX line is complete. The project will also enhance Metro-owned properties along the street level light rail route. Steve Ballmer donated to this project and others whose grantees "are working toward racial equity, specifically within predominantly Black communities."
