A vacant lot near City Hall will become an art park. Why do some people object?

A vacant lot in the shadow of City Hall is being turned into an “art park” — but some Los Angeles city residents and a powerful union aren't happy with the deal and how it went down.

The nonprofit AltaMed Health Services is paying the city $175,000 to lease the two-acre site at 1st Street and Broadway until next February. On the site, AltaMed plans to build “El Corazón Art Park,” which contains an art gallery to display Mexican and Chicano works, trees with 30 boxes and a health center – and a 20-meter video screen.

The plan has faced backlash from some members of the community who are frustrated with the deal and feel it was pushed back out of doors. Residents had long been promised a city-owned and operated park, and some feared AltaMed had permanent plans for the space.

“For over a century this space has been surrounded by beautiful buildings and parks, and it's a mistake that it has never been used,” said Jens Midthun, head of the Downtown Los Angeles County Council. “We want people who will use the park to be part of the plan, that didn't happen this time.”

AltaMed has more than 40 medical facilities in Southern California, with nearly 6,000 employees. It targets Latino and multiracial areas as part of its stated mission to eliminate disparities in access to health care.

Its CEO, Cástulo de la Rocha, was on Mayor Karen Bass's transition team after she won the mayoral race in 2022. De la Rocha and more than a dozen other executives at AltaMed also gave a whopping $1,800 in individual contributions to Bass's re-election campaign, giving a total of more than $34.

Bass supported the AltaMed program for the benefit of the community, said spokesman Kolby Lee.

“This is absurd – this vacant lot has sat empty for decades,” Lee said in a statement. “It's time for Los Angeles — a city that's nearly 50% Latino and 70% of Mexican descent — to have a museum that honors and promotes Chicano and Mexican art.”

In a statement, AltaMed's vice president of public affairs Christina Sanchez said the park “will transform a long-underutilized downtown area into a vibrant, publicly accessible space that offers free arts, entertainment, wellness, and diverse cultural programs for Angelenos and visitors.”

Sanchez added that the project will be implemented at no cost to taxpayers and go through the city's public review process. The company also met and spoke with residents and neighborhood associations as part of the process. The park is expected to open in the next few months.

Along with city residents, the project has sparked opposition from the powerful Service Employees International Union, Local 721, which represents more than 100,000 public sector workers in Southern California.

In a statement sent to The Times, a spokesperson for SEIU 721 said the union opposes the park because many of its members live in downtown LA and support the development of a public park at the site. The union represents 2,300 employees of the Department of Recreation and Parks.

The union says the plan had to go through a rigorous environmental review and the company has not yet made it clear whether it plans to charge the public for events at the park. The union also questioned AltaMed's plan to have health services located in the arts park, its hopes for a long-term lease and the company's plan to have a 20-foot digital billboard for sponsors and content about arts, culture and sports in the park.

Like AltaMed, the union also supports the mayor. Since May, the union has given a total of $300,000 to two independent fundraising groups working to get Bass re-elected.

AltaMed is a non-union health services provider and is in conflict with SEIU 721's sister union, SEIU-UHW at the state level.

AltaMed did not directly respond to some of the union's claims, referring the Times to a statement provided by the nonprofit.

“AltaMed has been clear that El Corazón Art Park is a temporary operation that is directly related to AltaMed's mission,” Sanchez said in his statement.

The modern history of the lot begins with an earthquake.

The two-acre site was the site of the California State Building, which was damaged in the 1971 Sylmar earthquake and demolished five years later.

It sat idle until 2013, when the city purchased and opened the property for $10 million and announced plans to turn it into a park as part of former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's “50 Parks Initiative,” which sought to add smaller parks to the city.

The program was celebrated by an ever-growing number of urban residents who longed for open space in the “park poor” area.

Construction crews have begun work on the AltaMed art park.

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

The city held a design competition for the park, and former City Councilor José Huizar announced the winner at a press conference in an empty lot in 2016. At that time, he said the park was expected to be completed in 2019.

It would host a restaurant, walking paths and green space, and even flower-like metal structures that could collect solar energy to power the park.

The city had set aside about $20 million, but construction costs were high, officials said.

In 2023, the park plan was put on hold due to lack of funds. The earmarked money was diverted to other projects, including a park under the Sixth Street Viaduct.

A lot of dirt remained.

As of 2024, AltaMed was coming up with plans for the space behind the scenes at the highest level of city government.

“Our CEO, Cástulo de la Rocha, has mentioned the project to Mayor Bass, and he has expressed interest,” AltaMed's legal manager wrote in an October 2024 email to a senior Bass aide, seen by The Times.

In a September 2025 email to the parks department's assistant general manager, AltaMed presented the city with a 35- to 55-year lease for the property, where it will build its Chicano museum and a restaurant, bar and clinic on the site. In previous emails to the city, the nonprofit predicted it would cost $218 million to build an underground parking lot, storage facility, theater and library for the museum.

Map plan of AltaMed's temporary art park at 1st Street and Broadway, across from City Hall.

(Commissioners of the Parks and Recreation Board)

At the end of its emailed proposal, AltaMed had a simple question.

“Respectfully, we are asking the City of Los Angeles and the Department of Recreation and Parks: Long-term site lease at minimal cost,” the organization wrote.

But by February, when the Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners took over the plans with AltaMed, plans had changed. Now AltaMed has requested permission to build a pop-up art park at 1st Street and Broadway for a one-year, one-year lease.

It was originally proposed as a temporary venue for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but plans were not finalized in time for that to happen.

Construction crews begin work on the AltaMed art park.

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

At the center of the park, the nonprofit organization plans to build a 30-foot “heart building” that “will generate content about arts, culture, wellness, sports and patron recognition,” the Board of Recreation and Parks Commissioners wrote in a report approving the project.

This plan, noted the parks board report, is supported by Bass and Councilor Ysabel Jurado, whose district includes the site.

Jurado said the temporary art park will make good use of the fenced and unused land, but stressed that his office will ensure that there is a transparent process for the long-term use of the space.

“From the beginning, I made it clear that my support for temporary work depended on a strong public consultation process,” he said. “That support is limited to this temporary use of the site and should not be interpreted as support for any future permanent proposal.”

Downtown Los Angeles Citizens Assn. member Leslie Ridings.

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

The Parks and Recreation Board approved the plan with AltaMed in May, giving it a lease through 2027.

Downtown Los Angeles Citizens Assn. he suggested in a letter to the city in April that the temporary nature of the art park might be to “serve as a bridge to something permanent before the public has had a proper opportunity to reflect.”

“We are asking for a full, fair and transparent process for long-term implementation,” said Cassy Horton, founder of the residents' association.

In May, the same month the city's parks board approved the plan, SEIU 721 joined the fray, appealing the board's decision to the City Council. The council rejected SEIU's 721 request in late June, allowing the project to move forward.

Four days after the council's vote, Leslie Ridings and Horton of the residents' association stood outside the enclosure as two men with a group from Vincor Construction tried to drive stakes into the ground.

Horton agreed that it would be better to have an art park in the area than a wasteland, but said the abandonment of the public park is a sign that the city is failing the city's community.

“This method of removing funding from publicly supported projects has long been of great concern to the public,” he said.