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Wilshire Blvd's RFK Pocket Park Finishing This Month

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That new 1/3 acre pocket park dedicated to Robert F. Kennedy will open this month, finish this month, according to a spokesperson for Los Angeles Unified District. As you can see, the park, located right in front of the new LAUSD high school, site of the old Ambassador Hotel, is nearly there: You've got steps, grass, trees, a quote from RFK, a sculpture, a forthcoming water feature, and of course, the original pylon from the hotel. Would you like to know more about that sculpture? LAUSD coudn't provide any more details other than the following: "Sculpture is by Bobbie Carlyle. It is part of the historic reconstructed pylon. It is believed that Betty Grable was the model for the original statue." Efforts to reach Ms. Carlyle weren't immediately successful, so the search for information will continue. The park was supposed to be finished by spring 2009, but according to a LAUSD rep, the construction process was delayed by issues involving the Division of the State Architect, a state agency that oversees the building of California's K-12 schools and community colleges.

"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."

· So What's Left of the old Ambassador Hotel? [Curbed LA]
· Wilshire Pocket Park, RFK Memorial Breaking Ground this month [Curbed]

3400 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA