Making Inglewood Rail-Ready With Windmills, Sidewalk Streams

The Inglewood-based architects at (fer) Studio want to make over their hometown's downtown and they're not waiting on a developer or the city council. The firm has created plans (including "scale models, computer presentations and graphic renderings") for a reinvigorated Inglewood, inspired by the Crenshaw Line's expected stop at La Brea and Florence, reports the LA Times. That'll be about a block from Market Street, downtown Inglewood's once-lively, now-struggling main drag. Hoping to remake Market as a destination befitting of a light rail stop, the firm has imagined "water from Centinela Springs flowing alongside the sidewalks, rooftops farms and aeronautic-looking windmills that would add an offbeat and colorful touch to the city's main artery." According to an old Architect's Newspaper story on the plan, Inglewood's former mayor was a supporter, but he's since resigned. Some city council members "have openly backed the project," although (fer) has not submitted anything formal to the city yet. Meanwhile, the Church of Scientology recently finished its own, rather less civic, revitalization project on Market Street.
· Architect offers a home-grown vision of a new Inglewood [LAT]