Who knew? "There's a somewhat hidden atrium beneath the street surface of the Seventh Street Bridge that for decades has been the provenance only of graffiti artists and the homeless," the Downtown News tells us. And it gets better! City Councilmember Jose Huizar has proposed a new plan, created by architect Arthur Golding, that would revitalize the secret atrium into "some kind off public gathering spot, potentially with eateries and other vendors." The Seventh Street Bridge was originally built level with the ground in 1910; in 1925, it was raised so trains could go underneath, but the "at-grade portion of the bridge that crossed the river remained in tact, resulting in an atrium between the original platform and the elevated road structure." Golding is working with the LA River Revitalization Corporation on the project, which still has to go through a slew of yet-unscheduled city hearings. Huizar's motion (pdf) requests that "LARRC develop an adaptive reuse concept(s) for the atrium to improve its accessibility and function as a public amenity" and asks the city to look into a "mechanism for a private entity to lease the lower level of the bridge."
· New Plan Would Activate Hidden Seventh St. Bridge 'Atrium' [Downtown News]
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