"Steven Sharp's Pio Pico Library Pocket Park Project in Koreatown Progresses at a Snail's Pace"
"Work on the former parking lot for Koreatown's Pio Pico Library is moving slowly, with plans for a new pocket park and underground parking still in the works."
Work proceeds slowly at the former parking lot of Koreatown's Pio Pico Library, where construction began last year for a new pocket park. The more than $26-million project, led by developer Steven Sharp, calls for undergrounding the existing parking lot at 649 S. Oxford Avenue and using the space above to create a 26,000-square-foot park above. Plans call for 50 stalls in the underground garage, as well as additional street parking to serve the library.
JFAK Architects, the firm behind the park's design, envisions a space that includes a playground, an event space, a shade structure, fitness equipment, a walking loop, benches, tables, trees, and landscaping. According to a narrative from the JFAK website, the park will serve both the neighborhood and visitors to Koreatown, providing an outdoor extension of the library with reading areas and social spaces. The project also includes enhancements to the public library's facade, with a new building logo that will enliven the identity of the park.
Despite initial plans for an 18-month construction timeline, progress has been slow on the Pio Pico Park project. The park is meant to make up for a failed CRA/LA effort to create "Koreatown Central Park" at the site of an empty lot at 7th Street and Hobart Avenue. That plan fell through with the demise of the statewide CRA systems, and the lot has since been redeveloped into an apartment building called the Pearl on Wilshire. Koreatown still remains one of the most park-poor neighborhoods in Los Angeles