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LA City Council passes motion to revitalize Van Nuys Civic Center
Los Angeles Mar 22, 2022
Valley Municipal Building. | Photo courtesy of Cbl62 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
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The Los Angeles City Council passed a motion Tuesday aimed at revitalizing and adding green spaces to the Van Nuys Civic Center plaza, in an area that has been designated as having a high need for park space.
The motion was introduced by Council President Nury Martinez on Jan. 11 as part of a legislative package intended to break the cycle of poverty and build a livable city.
It passed 12-0.
“A key opportunity to add more green space is the plaza that sits within the Van Nuys Civic Center. The plaza is surrounded by government offices including the Braude Building, Van Nuys City Hall, the James C. Corman Federal Building and several courthouses,” stated the motion, which was seconded by Councilwoman Nithya Raman and Councilman Paul Koretz.
“The Van Nuys Civic Center should be re-imagined as a vibrant new public spaces that serves nearby office workers and residents during the day and can also be used for special events and programming,” it continued.
The motion ordered the Department of Public Works to convene regular meetings with several departments, including Recreation and Parks, to establish a work plan for revitalizing and renovating the plaza, creating programming for the community and placing a monument of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The monument was commissioned by Hulu and designed by artist Saya Woolfalk. Hulu approached Los Angeles with the idea to build the monument honoring Ginsburg, and the City Council authorized its installation in October. Officials hope it will become a pilgrimage for women and a location where they can contemplate women’s contributions to humankind.
It will feature a stainless steel roof and mosaic tile floor based upon two of the collars that Ginsburg was known to wear with her judicial robes. The collars will be connected by columns turned on their side. The monument will also feature benches based on the Harvard Law School desks, so it can be used as a space for reflection, as well as stainless steel doors with an etching of Ginsburg’s likeness.
Ginsburg, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, served on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1993 until her death on Sept. 18, 2020.
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