greater leimert park village crenshaw...
TRANSCRIPT
Volume 5 Issue 1
Winter 2014 4305 Degnan Boulevard, Suite 102
Los Angeles, California 90008
BID Administration:
Community Build, Inc.
Brenda Shockley, President
(323) 290-6560
CKG Communications
Writer, Graphic Design
(310) 410-9039 [email protected]
Inside this Issue:
Leimert Park Village Bid Renewed
Leimert Park Village Arts & Music Festival
CicLAvia is Coming
20/20 Vision Initiative Update: People Street Plaza
Leimert Park Theater Festival
Board of Directors:
Bakewell Company Representative
Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza Representative
Ben Caldwell
Fred Calloway
Allan DiCastro
Curtis Fralin
Paul L. Guidry, M.D.
Lydia Hart
Yesenia Monsour
THE VILLAGE CORRIDOR NEWSLETTER
LEIMERT PARK VILLAGE BID RENEWED
On August 1, 2014, Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson signed City Ordinance
Number 183157, officially renewing the establishment of the Greater Leimert Park Village/
Crenshaw Corridor and Business Improvement District (“BID”). The BID was renewed for a
5-year term beginning January 1, 2014 through 2018.
The renewal of the BID required submission of favorable petitions from at least 51% of the property owners being assessed as well as verification of the returned mail–in ballots cast in favor of the assessment.
The Greater Leimert Park Village/Crenshaw Corridor BID is one 39 BIDs citywide and cur-rently , the only BID in South Los Angeles.
The BID’s newly expanded boundaries are comprised of 3 zones which are as follows:
Zone 1: The Leimert Park Village; includes the north side of 43rd Street to 43rd Place to the south and parcels facing Degnan Blvd. on the east and west sides.
Zone 2: Commercial areas along Crenshaw Blvd; starting at Martin Luther King Blvd. and includes Leimert Blvd. and Marlton Square. (Does not include Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza).
Zone 3: Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.
Through a series of property owner meetings, the Greater Leimert Park Village/Crenshaw Corridor Business Improvement District Management District Plan was established to de-velop and prioritize the goals and objectives for the BID’s 5-year budget. Property owners determined that the primary needs of the District are: cleaning, marketing and administra-tion. The budget is made up of the following components:
CLEAN, SAFE & BEAUTIFUL PROGRAMS. This program is divided into two parts, the Clean Team Program and the Safe Team Program. Both the Clean Team and the Safe Team Pro-grams were developed to improve the economic vitality of the District and encourage in-vestment dollars and generate additional pedestrian traffic. Cleaner and more attractive sidewalks create an increased sense of safety and lead to increased commercial activity.
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GREATER LEIMERT PARK
VILLAGE CRENSHAW
CORRIDOR BUSINESS
IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Village Corridor Newsletter Page 2
Art & Music Festival
A record crowd of over 50,000 music lovers converged on Degnan Blvd for the 6th Annual Leimert Park Village African Art and Music Festival. Event co-founder Amaechina Doreen felt that this year’s event was the best yet. “Because of our culture, we just don’t like to come to events and sit back. We like to be completely immersed,” she said. “This year, I really pushed for a lot more interaction and engagement between the performers and the audience.” Over 20 live performances of jazz, blues, reggae, R & B, neo-soul, African drumming, spoken word, come-dy and dance, kept the crowd on their feet throughout the 3-day event.
The festival opened with a lively ceremonial performance by S.H.I.N.E. Mawusi Women’s African Drum and Dance Troupe. The Harlem Dance-A-Palooza with Conversant Dance Company gave dance instruction vintage moves from the 50s, 60s and 70s followed by a dance contest. Natural Hair pioneer Thliah Waajid returned for a 2nd year to sponsor a segment entitled “LA’s Love Affair with Natural Hair.”
Signature events included Sankofa Sunday, a celebration and remembrance of those that have transitioned in the past year, Leimert Park After Dark and the 3rd Annual Leimert Park Group Legacy Awards hosted by Emmy-nominated actress Millena Gay.
New to this year’s festival was the Teen Summit which was held in the Community Build Garden. Coordinated by Keisa Davis, this 3-day “by teens for teens” summit was completely produced by teens aged 13 -17.
Festival producers partially attribute the success of this year’s event to its new location on Degnan Blvd. For the past 5 years, the festival was held on the back lot of the Vision Theater. This year, thanks to Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson and his staff, festival producers were able to secure the neces-sary permits to shut down Degnan Street from 43rd Place to 43rd Street, greatly increasing the festival area and releasing the Vi-sion Theater back lot for additional parking and event staging.
For information on the 2015 Leimert Park Village Art and Music Festival, call (323) 596-0955 or email: [email protected]
CicLAvia is Coming
CicLAvia is coming to Leimert Park on Sunday, December 7, 2014, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. CicLAvia is a day when mo-torized vehicles are temporarily prohibited on certain streets and cyclists, pedestrians, skaters and skateboarders are free to take the road. CicLAvia produces temporary car free days that transform streets into safe spaces for thousands of people to bike, walk, play and smile. CicLAvia is free for all participants, connecting them to communities and to each other. Most im-portantly, CicLAvia allows people to connect with each other in a way that isn’t possible in a car.
Please note that the 6-mile CicLAvia route will be closed to all cars, with no vehicles or on-street parking allowed on the route. Expect medium-to-long delays on nearby streets if you must drive or travel by bus that day.
Businesses are urged to make the most of CicLAvia coming to Leimert Park:
• Plan on being open the day of the event.
• Where permissible, make your storefront visible with
signs, banners and sandwich boards.
• Bring your business outside. If you have permission to use
the sidewalk in front of your business, feel free to bring products, music or seating outside.
• Advertise your business before the event. To encourage
participants to stop by your business on the day of the event, you can offer a CicLAvia special or discount. Metro will list your business for FREE on their website. Send the name of your business, discount offer, website link and address to [email protected]. Please limit the text to 140 characters with spaces.
• Help get the word out in advance. Put up a CicLAvia flyer
or give CicLAvia flyers to your customers. Contact [email protected] to request flyers to download.
For more information visit ciclavia.org.
Property Owners Approve LPV BID Renewal
Village Corridor Newsletter Page 3
Faced with a limited budget for the BID, property owners chose to use the Clean, Safe & Beautiful budget solely for Clean Team Program for the first two years. In years three through five, the BID reserves the right to add the Safe Team Program which would be funded within the existing Clean, Safe & Beautiful budget. If this occurs, the portion of the budget allocated towards clean and/or beautification efforts may be shifted to fund the Safe Team Program.
MARKETING. Property owners deemed that it is important to market and promote the BID as a unique and culturally diverse destination for goods and services. Marketing efforts will include updating the website to contain a section that lists each business within the BID. The quarterly newsletter distributed to property owners, merchants and stakehold-ers, will continue to communicate the BID’s issues, improvements, activities and programs. Some of the other mar-keting programs being considered are:
• Image and Communication programs • Public and Media Relations
• Development of Greater Leimert Park Village/Crenshaw Corridor Business Improvement District images pieces
ADMINISTRATION /RESERVE/CITY FEES. The BID’s improvements and activities are managed by a professional staff that requires centralized administrative support. Management staff oversees the BID’s services. Staff actively works to insure that City and County services, policies and resources support the BID.
Due to the BID renewal date occurring in the 2nd half of 2014, property owners will only be assessed for six months in-stead of twelve. Copies of the Greater Leimert Park Village/Crenshaw Corridor Business Improvement District Manage-ment District Plan, which includes the 5-year budget, can be obtained at the Community Build offices at 4305 Degnan Blvd, Suite 102.
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Village Corridor Newsletter Page 4
20/20 PLAN UPDATE: PEOPLE STREET PLAZA The Leimert Park Village 20/20 Vision Initiative which kicked off in January 2014, contin-ues to make progress. The Initiative will implement business and economic development strategies to leverage revitalization opportunities catalyzed by the upcoming installation of the Leimert Park Village Metro Station.
According to 20/20 Vision Planning Committee member and Leimert Park Village Board member Ben Caldwell, the design concept is complete. Leimert Park Village People Street Plaza is a major component. People Street Plaza, which will be located on 43rd Place from Degnan to Leimert Boulevard, will close a portion of the street to vehicles and create ac-cessible public open space. The perimeter of the People Street Plaza will be designated with paint or other treatments applied to the street surface, as well as large planters and other graphic and physical elements. The Plaza will provide a permanent outdoor area to stage festivals, arts shows, dance festivals, recreational activities, concerts, etc.
The expanded public space created by People Street Plaza will increase safety for people who walk, bike and take transit. This encourages pedestrian traffic, thus supporting economic vitality in the Village. The new local gathering space will be designed to foster a greater sense of community and social cohesion. People Street Plaza will also become a centerpiece for the neighbor-hood, providing venues for events and celebrations. As more pedestrians come to spend time in neighborhoods, the increased activity will support the vibrancy of local businesses.
Building on Leimert Park Village’s existing aesthetic, People Street Plaza will incorporate the existing Adinkra design in the Sankofa Passage that are visible throughout the village. “We thought that it was important to remain with the Adinkra motif. Our ancestors used it all the time in architecture. There are about 50 – 60 Adinkra symbols. Most people don’t know that each Adinkra symbol is part of a written language and has a specific meaning,” said Caldwell.
In addition to the completed design, grants are currently being written for various aspects of People Street Plaza and other objec-tives of the 20/20 Plan. A follow-up meeting to review progress of the plan and chart the path forward will be scheduled in late 2014 or early 2015.
For more information on the 20/20 initiative and the People’s Street Plaza, visit www.leimertparkvillage.org.
LEIMERT PARK THEATER FESTIVAL The inaugural Leimert Park Village Theater Festival (LPVTF) featured 4 days of plays and staged readings, Q & A sessions and educational panels. Performances took place at Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center, Fernando Pullum Per-forming Arts Center, Regency West and the Vision Theater. Participating theater companies included the Pasadena Playhouse, The Robey Theater, Inner City Cul-tural Center, Perception Consortium, Watts Village Theater Company, Ted Lange Productions, Obba Babatunde Theater Group, and the Fernando Pullum Perform-ing Arts Center.
On opening night, the LPVTF presents James Bronson's "Crenshaw Boulevard" pro-duced by the Bronson Theatre Group and directed by Art Evans. The play paid homage to the construction on Crenshaw as well as the gentrification taking place on Crenshaw, Leimert Park, View Park and Baldwin Hills Communities. According to Special Projects Director for the Department of Cultural Affairs James Burks who manages the Vision Theater, the festival fits into the big picture of returning Leimert Park Village’s status as a cultural arts destination. In the fall of 2016, when the 750-seat theater is fully operational, the Vision Theater’s goal is to build the festival into its season along with future theatrical produc-tions, concerts, conventions, and special events comparable to Harlem’s Apollo Theater.
Closing ceremonies included veteran actress Marla Gibbs (“Jeffersons,” “227”) receiving a proclamation from the City of Los An-geles, followed by a revival of her performance in "CHECKMATES,” a work originally produced and performed by Marla at Cross-roads Arts Academy alongside the late actor Paul Winfield. Ms. Gibbs was honored for having kept the Vision Theatre going as its owner-operator from 1990 – 1997.
The Leimert Park Theatre Festival was sponsored by the Leimert Park Vision Theatre Consortium. For more information on the Vision Theater call (323) 290-2386, or email: [email protected].
Adinkra symbols like these will be incor-
porated throughout People Street Plaza .
Actress Marla Gibbs (center) was recognized for
her contributions to the Vision Theater. Pic-
tured: James Burks (L), Yvonne Farrell (2nd
from R) and members of the Conscious Youth
Global Network.