Pershing Square, Public park in Downtown Los Angeles, US
Pershing Square fills one city block bounded by 5th, 6th, Hill and Olive Streets in downtown Los Angeles. The 1994 Ricardo Legorreta and Laurie Olin redesign paved almost the entire block in light brown slabs, with raised planters of trees, a curved shallow basin with a pebbled bottom, and a large brown sphere on a circular concrete pad. A tall gray concrete beam spans overhead.
The site was dedicated as a public square in 1866 by Mayor Cristóbal Aguilar under the name La Plaza Abaja, Spanish for "the lower plaza". It was renamed Pershing Square in November 1918, a week after Armistice Day ended World War I, honoring General John J. Pershing. A plaque in his honor followed about four decades later.
The square includes a Spanish-American War Memorial from 1900, recognized as one of the oldest public art pieces in Los Angeles.
The park opens daily in the morning and closes in the late afternoon, with free pedestrian access from all four sides. During winter months, an ice skating rink is sometimes set up, and there are sections for children and dogs within the grounds.
In the 1950s, the entire park was excavated to make room for roughly 1,800 cars beneath it, while the surface remained as green space. This construction method was highly unusual in American cities at the time and reflected the growing influence of the automobile on urban planning.
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