The corner at Palisades High School has been redone with a garden and more room for students at the corner. The advertising kiosk was removed. Photo: Courtesy of Doug Suisman.
Advertisement for Violent Movie Is Questioned
Just in time for the start of school at Palisades High next week, the corner beautification project at Temescal Canyon Road and Bowdoin Street, which started in 2014, is nearing completion.
Headed by Palisades parents and internationally-recognized architect Doug Suisman, the corner has been transformed from a visual blight and traffic nightmare into a garden with benches and a wide pathway for students walking to and from the school.
At the start of the Gateway project, Suisman noted that “Every morning 1,000 students squeeze through a bottleneck that is three and a half feet between traffic and a fire hydrant, and the flashing message sign is a distraction to motorists.”
The organizing committee began improving the corner by removing the digital sign and redesigning the sidewalk passage to make it more ADA-accessible. This involved removing part of a handball court that was not being used and widening the corner to allow for a path and plantings.
In 2014, Suisman said, “We want to transform the corner from a dangerous entrance and an eyesore and bring back the view obscured by benches and fences and the sign. You should be able to sit here and look all the way down Temescal and see the water.”
On Friday, August 9, the project moved one step closer when the Metro bus stop and its adjacent advertising were moved from in front of the path.
Suisman wrote Circling the News, “We’re still waiting for the three benches to arrive for installation (they will be along the path in front of the new hedge, all facing down the canyon to the ocean). They’re due any day; it will take a few days to install.”
He added, “We are making progress on raising the funds for the school sign, which will be in front of the hedge, behind the benches.”
So far, the project cost has been about $80,000, with a final projected cost of $110,000. The money has been raised by parents.
“The Councilman’s Office, Bureau of Street Services, Decaux and ShelterClean, along with Metro and LADOT, deserve praise for responding so positively and quickly to our request for removal of the kiosk and shelter and an eastward shift of the bus stop,” Suisman said. “We will meet with them in the fall to talk about what transit amenities may be needed for students who use the bus (Metro 602 or Big Blue Bus 9), either on Temescal or Sunset.”
Suisman was asked if there would be an opening ceremony for the corner. “Not sure yet about a ceremony but, after five years of hard work, the Gateway committee has certainly earned a drink!” he said.
On August 8, CTN asked the workers who took down the advertising sign and bus kiosk if advertising was going back up. They said they didn’t know.
A CTN reader had pointed out that the advertising poster for a movie “The Kitchen” showed a gun. “During these times when gun violence and gun control are front and center in the political arena, what are these ad agencies thinking! And Hollywood for that matter.
“I realize that PaIi High is not in session, but an ad like this should not be near a school at any time,” the reader wrote.
On Sunset, at the another bus stop that is used by students, a poster for “Ready or Not” is prominently placed
Councilman Mike Bonin’s field deputy Lisa Cahill was contacted and asked why the City would allow ads that show guns or other violence near a school.
She replied in an August 9 email, “I will look into this and let you know.”