Residents Angry About Plummer Park Closure

Residents are angry about plans to close a major portion of for up to two years as it undergoes a . They made their voices heard loudly during a four-hour community meeting held Tuesday night.

A standing-room-only crowd of approximately 175 people packed the Plummer Park Community Center room, which has a posted capacity of 80, as city staff offered a visual presentation about the remodel, followed by a Q&A with residents. A Russian translator was on hand to interpret.

Mayor John Duran welcomed the residents, saying the city valued their input. He urged them to listen to the presentation before making up their minds. “Contempt prior to investigation is never a good thing,” Duran said.

The overall goal for the renovation is to increase green space in the city, unify the park into a more cohesive area and improve safety, officials explained.

Starting early in 2012, the central portion of Plummer Park will be closed while construction crews build a $10 million, 179-space underground parking garage that will go from the area just east of Fiesta Hall north to the tennis courts.

As part of the subterranean garage dig, the 1930s-era Great Hall and Long Hall, both built by the Work Projects Administration (WPA), will be demolished, along with the nearby Tiny Tots preschool building. The school will be rebuilt, but Great Hall and Long Hall will not.

Once the garage is finished, Phase Two will see the 110-space parking lot off Santa Monica Boulevard removed and replaced by garden areas. When the two phases are completed, the parking garage will have a net increase of 69 parking spaces.

Lengthy closure

Residents seemed most upset by the two-year closure, noting the park plays an integral part of their lives. They said they come to the park on a daily basis to visit friends, let their children play, to get some shade on hot days. They were adamant that they do not want their lives disrupted by the closure.

One resident with her 6-year-old son at her side lamented he would not have any place to play. “Two years is a third of his life,” she said. 

Stephanie Harker, who spearheaded the opposition, noted they might be late in getting organized, but it was not too late to stop the renovations. “We want some consideration,” Harker said.  

Human Services Director Sam Baxter told the crowd, “At the end of the day, Plummer Park will be a better place. That’s the prize at the end of the tunnel.”

Fiesta Hall

The Spanish-Colonial style Fiesta Hall, built in the 1940s, will get a major overhaul to make it more of a performing arts center, with additional seating and high-tech equipment. As part of that renovation, the lobby will be moved to the hall's north side, where the building’s courtyard currently is.

An upwardly curving roof will cover that new lobby. Some residents said that roof resembled a flying saucer and was too modern for the park.

Architect Angie Brooks of Brooks + Scarpa Architecture said this combining of old and modern architecture styles will “reflect the culture of the city.” A moment later, when a photo of the Fiesta Hall as it currently looks flashed on screen, the audience broke out into loud applause.

Later when Brooks said it was “world-class architecture for a world-class park,” many snickers were heard in the audience. One resident said of this modern addition, “if I were remaking Barbarella, I would call you.”

Trees removed

The park currently has 210 trees. When the renovations are completed, it will have 246 trees. However during construction, 134 trees, primarily in the central portion of the park, will be removed. Of those 134 trees, 54 will be permanently removed while 80 will be replanted once the parking garage is completed. Those 80 trees will be stored in planter boxes at an unnamed location during the two years of construction.

Among the trees that will be permanently removed are the ones that are the largest and oldest. Several residents called those trees “historic,” pointing out they were older than anyone in the room.

Officials noted that once construction is completed, it will take 15 years for the new trees to grow to the point where they provide the amount of shade covering that currently exists in the park. That left residents howling with anger.

Interactive fountain

A focal point for the park will be a giant interactive fountain in the center beside Fiesta Hall. That fountain will have the “unifying feature” of being visible from all entry points to the park.

In previous public meetings, some residents had indicated that they wanted a swimming pool in the park. City representatives said a pool would eat up valuable land that could be devoted to green space. They pointed out there is a swimming pool in and the Plummer fountain will provide a place for children to play in the water.

One resident said the fountain would eventually become the place where homeless people bathe.

Unanswered question

The parking lot off Fountain Avenue and the seven adjacent tennis courts will be unaffected by the renovations. That northern portion of the park may eventually be redone, but the City Council has not approved any plans for that area.

Resident Steve Martin, who served on the City Council from 1994-2003, asked if increasing parking was the goal of the renovations, and the closure of the park would disrupt so many people, why not first build a parking deck on that Fountain Avenue lot and put tennis courts on top. City representatives did not answer his question.

Later, several other people asked the same question, phrasing it slightly differently. Baxter finally responded that it was not part of the current master plan.

Several people asked why the city did not use the $41 million dedicated to park renovations to buy some of the adjacent lots, thereby expanding the park. Baxter again said that was npt part of the current master plan, but might be phased in later.   

Construction plans

Construction Manager Dan Adams said he expected the parking garage to be finished in 17 to 18 months. He said they would open the parking garage as quickly as possible, followed by a new playground area. Adams said penalty clauses for not finishing on time would be written into the construction contracts.

One resident asked what happens if in digging for the parking garage, they discover archeological treasures, such as the skeleton of a wooly mammoth. Adams said they would deal with that if such a buried treasure is found, noting that both an archeologist and a paleontologist would be on site during the dig.

Adams said that state law dictates that construction hours on outdoor projects be 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday to Friday. He acknowledged that there would be some noise, but that they were making efforts to minimalize it.

The haul route for the dirt will be Lexington Avenue to Gardner to Fountain. Many residents complained about the trucks going by their houses continually.

Notifying the public

Duran pointed out in his opening remarks that the city has held 75 public meetings starting in 1994 about the Plummer Park Master Plan. Mailings about each of those meetings were sent out to residents and notices were published in area newspapers, Duran said.

Some residents acknowledged having gotten those notices, but ignoring them. Others said they did not receive any mailings. Still others said they had been looking for the mailings, but never got anything, while their next-door neighbors did.

One man questioned why the city can not do a better job about notifying affected residents. “I know about every film shoot happening in the park, because someone from the movie comes knocking on my door telling me about,” he said. “Why can’t the city do the same about something that is going to affect me much more than a film shoot?”

Some pleased

Not everyone in the room was unhappy about the plans. Several residents reminded that many people complained about the reconstruction of Santa Monica Boulevard from 1999 to 2001 while it was happening. They pointed out that people now love the reconstructed main street of the city.

Others stood up declaring their support of the project and chastising residents for not coming out to the meetings held in years past.

Resident Esther Baum said people do not really care about Great Hall/Long Hall being demolished. “They just don’t want to be disturbed by the construction,” she said. Baum told them they should have come to earlier meetings, saying, “You’re a little late.” Many in the audience booed after her comment.

Stopping the project

One resident commented that the city seemed determined to go ahead with the project and questioned what good this community meeting would do.

“Our intent is to return to the City Council and advise them of what is being said here tonight,” said Baxter.

Duran was on hand for about the first hour of the meeting, while Mayor Pro Tempore Jeff Prang stopped in for about an hour during the middle of the meeting. None of the other councilmembers were there, but deputies for Councilmembers Abbe Land and John D’Amico were present.

Paper petitions and an online petition are circulating to stop the project. One resident asked what they had to do to get the project stopped. Baxter advised contacting the five City Council members.

“We take our direction from the City Council,” Baxter said. “They are your elected officials.”

Follow West Hollywood Patch on Twitter and Facebook for more updates, tips and news.