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Torti Gallas + Partners is proud to announce that the Master Plan for Los Angeles’ Exposition Park has been approved by the Board of Directors for Exposition Park and the California Science Center!
Exposition Park, one of the host sites of the 2028 Summer Olympic Games, is currently home to museums, a science center, sporting venues, recreational and education facilities. The recent update to the master plan - the first since 1993 – came as two new attractions were underway - the George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and the Banc of California Soccer Stadium. The Torti Gallas Master Plan is a continuation of the 1993 Master Plan and focuses on the next 25 years.
Torti Gallas was announced as the Exposition Park Master Planner at an event in October 2017. Speaking at that event, Torti Gallas Principal Neal Payton said that the goal of the new master plan was to better link the park's growing list of attractions, providing visitors with "comfortable and easy navigation" through the entire park.
Developed over a period of four years in consultation with the community, government officials and the museums and sports institutions in the Park, the Plan reflects a commitment to conserving and expanding park green space; including more plentiful pathways, landscaped areas and visitor amenities; improving accessibility; creating new gateway entries; incorporating environmental design standards; and preserving the historic legacy of the Park, among other features.
“Exposition Park is for everyone,” said Diane Hamwi, Chair of the Board of Directors for Exposition Park and the California Science Center. “Crafting a plan responsive to the desires and needs of the community has been the top priority.”
In describing the inspiration for the Plan, Neal Payton said,“Inspired by historic world fairs, the re-imagined Exposition Park celebrates the history, community and culture of both the local neighborhoods and the greater region by creating new passive and active open spaces that educate, inspire and entertain.”
One of the signature features of the Plan is the relocating of surface parking to a below-ground parking structure which increases the amount of green space in the Park from 37 to 48% of the total park area. On the southern portion of the Park, which is closest to residents of the community, there will be 14 acres of new green space for neighbors to stroll, picnic, enjoy music and cultural festivals, and for children to play.
“The greening of this area of the Park nearest to neighbors addresses the inequity that exists, since the northern section of the Park is green, unlike the southern side,” said Billie Greer, Board member and Chair of the Master Plan Committee.”
Greer added, “With the implementation of the Master Plan, Exposition Park takes its rightful place alongside, or even exceeds, New York’s Central Park and Chicago’s Millennium Park as a great, world-renowned park that will thrill, energize, educate and spark the imagination of visitors from near and far for the many years to come.”
Torti Gallas' Los Angeles office led the master plan effort with a team that included Biederman Redevelopment Ventures, AHBE Landscape, Consensus, Inc., KPFF Consulting Engineers, Gibson Transportation, and Sapphos Environmental.
