After many years of close collaboration between Sasaki, the Port of Los Angeles and its staff, and members of the community, the Wilmington Waterfront Promenade has finally broken ground. The project, affectionately known as Wilmington’s ‘Window on the Waterfront’, is the next step in realizing the Wilmington Waterfront Master Plan that seeks to create a natural buffer between the Wilmington Community and Port operations, and identifies ways in which equal access to natural resources for Wilmington’s primarily Hispanic residents can co-exist with industry.
Building off the success of the first phase in which the Wilmington Waterfront Park transformed a brownfield site into a 30-acre park, the Promenade will provide an opportunity for the community to reconnect with their waterfront for the first time in decades. Construction of the nine-acre Wilmington Waterfront Promenade, which began in fall 2020, will result in an open space made for community gathering, family excursions, and contemplative green spaces to soak in views of the active Harbor.
The project includes the realignment of Water Street to create a contiguous parcel of land on which the future park will sit. Significant park features include a linear waterfront promenade, a public pier with shade structures and family-style picnic tables, a children’s play area, and ample plaza and lawn spaces for gatherings and performances.
“This project brings people to the water,” says project manager Diana Fernandez, ASLA, “we solicited extensive community input to ensure the community’s thumbprint is baked into the design details and amenities. The waterfront will now host new opportunities for recreation, gathering, and leisure that could not happen along the industrial waterfront before and which will create a sense of belonging for the community of Wilmington along their waterfront.”
The promenade development will also include construction of a new plaza to support Banning’s Landing Community Center, a new restroom with a green roof, and a connection to a future pedestrian bridge to the north of the project.
Construction on the Wilmington Waterfront Promenade, led by Sully-Miller Contracting Co. of Brea, California, is expected to be completed by 2023. Sasaki is joined by a host of Los Angeles-based subconsultants including Studio MLA who is providing local landscape architectural services to the team.
See the below construction progress update from Port of Los Angeles on the implementation of Wilmington Waterfront Promenade and another concurrent project, the Avalon Promenade and Gateway.
Image credits:
Renderings courtesy of Sasaki
Photos courtesy of Port of Los Angeles
Text originally published by Port of Los Angeles