Construction is set to start February 1, 2020 on the children’s playground planned for the city parking at 209 N. Larchmont Blvd, according to Rose Watson, Public Information Director at the City of LA Recreation and Parks Department. Construction is expected to take five months ending June 1st, just in time for warm summer days.
The 1,200 square foot playground is proposed to take up approximately 6 parking spaces in the row of parking along the south side of the parking lot, adjacent to Bella Cures nail salon. The Larchmont Boulevard Association has been working with local neighborhood associations to build support for the playground for nearly two years. The Buzz first reported on the project in April of 2018. Since then, $85,000 in funds have been raised from the community to supplement city funds.
So the plans are now becoming a reality, with construction set to start in less than a month. Details of the construction plans are still being worked out, according to Watson, but it is expected that some portion of the parking lot will be closed during construction of the playground.
What is less clear, though, is how this will affect the Larchmont Farmers Market.
According to the January issue of the Larchmont Chronicle, “The LBA’s (Larchmont Boulevard Association) liaison with the Sunday Farmers’ Market learned that the market organizers “will not object” to the potential loss of the parking spaces to be converted into the small playground.”
But whether the market can continue to operate during construction, and where it might go if it has to move, has not been forthcoming from Raw Inspirations, the company that operates the market. (The Buzz has left several messages for the company representative over the past two weeks.)
However, one Larchmont Farmers Market staffer (who was not authorized to comment publicly), told the Buzz that they do want to keep the market on Larchmont, and are hoping to find another location north of Beverly Blvd. We were able to confirm that CD4 staff have also been working with the market managers to find another location north of Beverly, possibly using part of the street.
The idea of a Sunday Farmers Market came from local retailers more ten years ago, with the goal of enlivening the weekend activity on the Boulevard. The market has certainly done that and is considered one of the most profitable farmers markets in the city, with many regular customers in the neighborhood, including this writer. Currently, there are more than 60 vendors, but some local businesses now feel the market has exceeded the footprint of the city parking lot, making it hard to people to come to Larchmont for anything else on Sundays. The lack of parking and congestion hurts some local retailers but others have told the Buzz they see the market as a positive, because it has brought lots of people and foot traffic to the street. Everyone we’ve spoken to seems to think moving the market to north Larchmont makes the most sense, but so far there are no specifics on where or when that might happen.
We hope the farmers market will stay on Larchmont, just up the street, and will keep you posted on any news we can share. In the meantime, get ready for our new Larchmont Village playground.