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RESTORATION MISSION
This very prominent part of the City's public interface must represent
its global brand with the sophistication and distinction associated the
world over with Beverly Hills.
The restoration project will bring the park into the 21st Century, utilizing
current trends in park design. It will begin by bringing back a long-lost
favorite and main feature of the park - the lily pond in front of the
Beverly Hills monument sign between Beverly and Canon drives. Each
of the 23 park blocks will undergo a tactical renovation, weighing many
factors such as the age and safety of the trees, and the functionality and
aesthetics of important park elements. Wrought iron will replace chain link
along the residential alleys. The fountains at each gateway will be restored,
a nod to the City’s history and an important step toward an illustrious
future. The inevitable aging that 100 years does to a park - varying types
of planting materials, outlived repairs, outdated fixtures, and an overused
public restroom facility - will be addressed to meet current needs through
a cohesive design and comprehensive park management approach.
In addition to the current restoration, the Friends of Beverly Gardens Park intends to ensure the park's pristine future with funds to furnish a 50-year supply of materialsfor focal elements like the fountains, to replace aging plants and paving, and to create an annuity to cover extra labor needed to maintain the restoration work.
The city’s founders exhibited true foresight, in the midst of The Great Depression, to hire an innovative landscape architect to create this civic space and lead their way to the future. It is our turn now to step up and help preserve it for future generations, to restore the park to its true splendor and substantiate Beverly Hills as one of the world’s leading cities.
MIA LEHRER
Integral to carrying the vision of Ralph Cornell forward is the stewardship of a
contemporary landscape planner of today, internationally-acclaimed designer
Mia Lehrer, and her firm Mia Lehrer + Associates. A multi-disciplinarian,
Lehrer draws on a passion for city planning in her advocacy for environmentally
sensitive and people-friendly public space. Focused on “conveying design
integrity in the process and not just solving a problem, she strives to design
landscapes that inspire, using technologies that sustain and creating places
that matter.” Some of her extensive and varied civic projects have included
the LA River Revitalization, Silver Lake Reservoir, Annenberg Community
Beach House and the renovation of Union Station in downtown LA.
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