Back in the boom days of the 2000s, when Downtown was starting to come alive, a mini-furor broke out over news that the LAPD was building its headquarters on a Civic Center plot once promised for a park. Locals were mildly placated with news that the AECOM-designed HQ would have a public green space. Fast forward to 2011 and the LAPD lawn is indeed used by sun lovers and dog owners, but it's often patchy and brown and upkeep is provided by locals out of the goodness of their own hearts--the headquarters was built with no maintenance budget for the park. But now blogdowntown reports that the LAPD, the city, and the Department of Recreation and Parks have made a deal to start taking care of the park. "Department [of Rec and Parks] employees will use overtime hours for the work, cutting costs for the city by eliminating the need to hire additional employees," according to the site. Meanwhile, the groups are working on a longterm solution. Officials will also look into why some of the palm trees are sickly and how to maintain the green grass--aside from a 2010 police event that effectively killed the grass and destroyed sprinklers, City Councilmember Jan Perry says the sun reflecting from the HQ's glass contributes to much of the wilting.
· City Agrees to Manage Dogged LAPD Lawn [blogdowntown]
· LAPD HQ Park Still Looking Like Boneyard [Curbed LA]
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