A children’s play area with benches, trees and a lighted canopy is finished and expected to open this fall, adding an active space to the more passive, northern-stretch of the waterfront promenade in San Pedro.
The new parkway — on Harbor Boulevard between First and Third streets, with the Battleship Iowa in the background — is intended to liven up the stretch of promenade that winds south from the World Cruise Center and Vincent Thomas Bridge at Swinford Street to the Los Angeles Maritime Museum and town square at Sixth Street and Harbor.
The project is on the former Red Car line property owned by the Port of L.A., but taking the lead on the $2.3 million construction was the city’s Housing Authority, as it is also designed to serve families at the Rancho San Pedro low-cost, World War II-era housing development across the street. A phased redevelopment of that housing project is scheduled to begin in 2024.
Prompting the idea for the addition were surveys that showed those who use the promenade wanted more things to do on that particular stretch.
“One complaint,” said Jenny Scanlin, the Housing Authorities chief strategy development officer in a harbor commission presentation on April 15, 2021, “is there isn’t much to do on the promenade except go for a walk.”
People liked the idea, she said at the time, of activating the promenade with small activities along the way.
To the north, the port’s synchronized fountains are available — though currently down for maintenance work — to watch, but this will allow more for families looking for kid-friendly fun.
Included are benches and landscaping. A decorative, lighted canopy will cover the spot at night, said Joshi Rupali of the Housing Authority, adding in an interview on Thursday, Aug. 31, that most of the larger trees are now in and about 60% of the landscaping is completed. Still pending is an electrical permit that, she said, is expected to come soon from the Los Angeles Department of…
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