Historic Los Angeles City Hall Park Made Greener

When the park surrounding Los Angeles City Hall reopened after eight months of repair work, sustainability and energy conservation were among a variety of articulated criteria for its restoration. City Hall Park was cordoned off by chain-link fence last year after police cleared hundreds of Occupy L.A. demonstrators who had camped on the lawn for nearly two months. 

“We were presented with a choice—reinvest in a park that is greener, smarter and more sustainable,” said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at the official reopening ceremony in July.

The nearly $1 million in renovations included a smart irrigation installation, water retention schemes, turf reduction, replanting with water-stingy native vegetation and “energy-efficient LED lighting,” said the mayor. 

Strewn around the tree-lined pathways and stairs of the 1.7-acre park are 13 lampposts whose ballasted 130-watt high-pressure-sodium post-top bulbs have recently been replaced with 27-watt LED lamps from LEDtronics Inc., of Torrance, Calif.