We have the full support of the Los Angeles Conservancy, many historians and local architects who strongly believes Liberty Park and former Beneficial Plaza on 3700 Wilshire Boulevard to be a significant historical resource.
On January 9, 2017, the Los Angeles Conservancy wrote a letter to the city planning department the need for a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
"On
behalf of the Los Angeles Conservancy, we submit these comments on the historic
significance of the former Beneficial Plaza and Liberty Park at 3700 Wilshire
Boulevard, now known as Wilshire Park Place, and the need for a full Environmental
Impact Report (EIR) prior to the approval of any project that would adversely
impact this building and its park.
The Conservancy has long considered Beneficial Plaza and
Liberty Park to be a significant historical resource. The proposed project,
which would replace Liberty Park with a 36-story mixed-use residential tower with
low-scale retail spaces, would remove an integral component of the property’s
original design and destroy the interlinked aesthetic relationship that the
Beneficial Plaza tower has with the park and Wilshire Boulevard and thus result
in significant impacts, whereby the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
calls for the need to identify and consider a range of viable preservation
alternatives.
The Conservancy believes that Beneficial Plaza and Liberty
Park, which attains 50 years of age in 2017, qualifies as a historical resource
based on its architectural and cultural significance associated with master
designers, its unique site plan integrating a large-scale landscaped park, and
its association with Beneficial Insurance Group CEO Joseph N. Mitchell, whose
leadership resulted in a significant and unique aesthetic contribution to the
Wilshire corridor..."
Alan Hess, an architectural historian, and Mia Lehrer of Mia Lehrer and Associates, an award-winning landscape architectural firm, have both written letters to the city planning department stating that the 2.5-acre, open space at 3700 Wilshire Boulevard is a classic example of Peter Walker’s minimalist, reductive style. A full Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is needed prior to the approval of any project that would adversely impact this building and its park.
