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An urban jewel for downtown L.A.: The garden at the LAPD’s new headquarters is drought-friendly and designed for lingering and enjoying

Posted by: Maven on May 23, 2009 at 7:32 am

From the Los Angeles Times:

As an expanded Los Angeles drought ordinance limiting lawn watering goes into effect June 1, the gardens across from City Hall at the new headquarters of the Police Department are nearing completion. What lies behind the draped chain link encircling the site may horrify conservationists, but it is bound to please local office workers and the loft dwellers who have been steadily gentrifying downtown.

There is lawn, nearly an acre of it.

If that sounds like a case of mixed messages from the city, it is, and it gets more confusing. Although irrigating turf is the single biggest waste of water in Southern California cities, the new LAPD headquarters is being heralded as a model of sustainability.

Earlier this week, three employees of Melendrez, the Los Angeles landscape and urban design firm responsible for the new garden, explained their intent. What was technically a commission to green up the space around an office building was almost from the start a tacit commission to build a park. Parks, the Melendrez men said, are more than justifiable uses of lawn.

Read more from the Los Angeles Times by clicking here.

May 23, 2009 · Filed Under Southern California

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