West Hollywood seeks input on Hart Park improvements

Independent Staff Report

WEST HOLLYWOOD — The city is seeking input from residents on site improvements for William S. Hart Park.

The city will conduct a virtual presentation using the Zoom platform at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 29, presenting three conceptual design plans and three-dimensional model renderings for the park. Each concept is sensitive to the park’s existing topography and landscape, provides active and passive areas for park users of all abilities, takes into consideration community feedback and illustrates creative design options to enhance park user experiences.

At this Zoom presentation, community members will be encouraged to participate and comment on the concept designs. To participate in this meeting, log in via Zoom at https://zoom.us/j/94258727257.

Community members without access to a smart phone, tablet, or computer may dial-in at (669) 900-6833 and enter meeting ID: 94258727257.

Following this community engagement meeting, revised concept designs will be presented to the city’s Public Facilities Commission Dec. 9 before being placed on a City Council agenda in early 2021 for final council action.

The William S. Hart Park outreach process officially began last December and included several in-person pop-up community outreach events at various locations in the city. After the first facilitated presentation of the outreach findings in February, remaining events were postponed due to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic.

In September, the city resumed outreach efforts and presented preliminary concepts for comments and recommendations to the city’s Disabilities Advisory Board during its monthly meeting. As with every outreach event, community members were encouraged to share their ideas about improvements to pedestrian and vehicular access and site amenities within the park.

Currently, the park has many amenities, including a fenced-in off-leash dog area, AIDS Memorial Garden, and a water fountain. The park is surrounded by beautiful trees and landscaping.

There is also the culturally historic William S. Hart house and a theater used and operated by the Actors Studio on the park grounds.

Improvements and upgrades to the existing buildings will be performed in a separate phase of work. The city of Los Angeles owns the property, but its grounds and structures are long-term leased and maintained by the city of West Hollywood.

For more information about how to participate in the upcoming virtual community presentation or more information about the Hart Park project, visit the city’s webpage at www.weho.org/hartpark.

For additional information, contact Christina Sarkees at csarkees@weho.org.