SOUTH LOS ANGELES () — It’s a construction project meant to help unite the Crenshaw District, but delays and setbacks are now raising new questions about the so-called Destination Crenshaw project.
It’s been five years since the project broke ground. A group of concerned residents packed the Bethesda Temple Church Thursday night demanding accountability and transparency around the unfinished project.
“We just want to make sure that everyday people in this community are treated with the dignity that they deserve, that’s why we’re here”
“Inside of LAX they have a mural, these gorgeous, beautiful pictures of Destination Crenshaw. It don’t look nothing like this, we don’t know when they are going to restart or when they are going to finish,” said talk show host Tavis Smiley at Thursday’s meeting.
Celebrated as an open air public museum along Crenshaw Boulevard, those who live and work near the unfinished project say what was meant to enhance their community is instead hurting it.
“It’s really hindered our business, we had to cut everybody’s hours,” said one area business owner at Thursday’s meeting.
Other area business owners detailed years of parking loss, traffic congestion and public safety concerns.
Los Angeles City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson founded the project and his absence from Thursday night’s meeting was a point of frustration for many.
“Where is Marqueece Harris-Dawson, why is he not in this room tonight? If you know him, call him. If you know him, text him,” Smiley said.
Eyewitness News emailed his office and received the following statement:
“The concerns of businesses and residents in the Crenshaw District are critical, and my office will work with Destination Crenshaw to address them. This project started with several community meetings and community input, and to be successful, we need our neighbors to know and feel that this project is for them and to build a prosperous future.”
The hope now is that Thursday’s meeting will prompt answers and a clear timeline for Destination Crenshaw’s completion.
Organizers of the meeting said the goal was to get on the public record — for the council president and the entire city council — as they wait for two big questions to be answered, when will the project start again and when will it be finished?
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