Reconnecting MacArthur Park explored rejoining one of Los Angeles’ oldest and most important civic spaces that has long been separated by Wilshire Blvd. The project identified opportunities to improve access to open space, strengthen connections between the north and south portions of the park, and address past harms caused by the park’s bifurcation through community input, stakeholder engagement, and technical analysis.
context
Newberry Library, 1941.
MacArthur Park, and its surrounding neighborhood of Westlake, has changed dramatically since the park was built in the 1880s. One of the biggest changes came in the 1930s, when the City divided the park into two with Wilshire Blvd running through the middle. This division continues today, limiting the Westlake community’s access to open space and affecting connections to recreation, transit, housing, jobs, schools and other essential destinations.
LA Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, and the Central City Neighborhood Partners (CCNP) launched an initiative to explore closing Wilshire Blvd to vehicular traffic and stitch the park back together. KDI joined a team led by Nelson\Nygaard to conduct Phase 1 of this multi-phased process, a feasibility study, funded by the Southern California Association of Governments.
Project team engages with vendor outside of MacArthur Park.
process
KDI team and local residents at community design workshop.
KDI collaborated with Central City Neighborhood Partners (CCNP) to develop the engagement strategy and materials, including multilingual outreach, surveys, open houses, and focus groups. Throughout the process, the Community Advisory Council (CAC) provided guidance, helping interpret feedback and shape the evaluation of concepts.The team developed and evaluated concepts to reconnect the park; expand usable public space; improve safety and accessibility; and enhance environmental quality.
Led by Nelson\Nygaard the team assessed each concept through transportation studies and evaluated them against the project goals to understand benefits and trade-offs.
solution
Illustrative rendering of the Carondelet Street Closure option.
The team developed three core concepts to reimagine Wilshire Blvd, including a bus-only option that would restrict cars while allowing buses and widening sidewalks; a street closure option that would temporarily or permanently close the roadway and activate the space; and a full removal option that would eliminate the road and reconnect the park as one continuous park space. Through a robust engagement process, the community showed the strongest support for full removal and park reconnection, receiving 64% support.
impact
Illustrative rendering that demonstrates the community's preferred design option - totally reconnecting the park.
The Reconnecting MacArthur Park initiative has the potential to restore one of Los Angeles’ most historic parks and provide the Westlake community with much-needed safe and welcoming public space. Beginning in Spring 2026, Phase 2 will evaluate permanent closure of Wilshire Blvd and explore redesigning MacArthur Park as a continuous park between Alvarado St and Park View Ave. At this stage, all concepts, including a no-build alternative, will advance into environmental review.
