The Hoover/Jefferson intersection and Gavin Herbert Plaza at the end of Trousdale parkway from the Building 7 roof. This busy campus entrance will be completely renovated this summer and next fall to better connect to the Village.
USC Village – March 2016
Thanks for the great photos! With respect to the renovation of Herbert Plaza, do you have any more insight into the plans? I’m assuming a more classical fountain and other paving features as you said to ‘better connect’, but I’m eager to see the plans.
Interestingly, USC hasn’t announced anything officially yet. I haven’t seen the exact plans (my company is only doing the street improvement scope along Jefferson), but the paving pattern will be similar to the new design of Hahn plaza (built in 2012). The layout will be made more symmetrical, centered on Trousdale parkway, and the church parking lot will be mostly removed in favor of green space (pending USC’s purchase of that property, see http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-usc-church-20151108-story.html). Pretty much all of the trees will be replaced.
One of the bigger logistical drivers for the change is the installation of permanent gates at the entry, where temporary movable fencing and some chain link fence have been in place since the campus was closed to the public overnight beginning in 2012.
Thanks for the response! I was curious when more permanent gates would be installed, so it makes perfect sense that its inline with this project. And I like the idea of a rethink of that entrance – it deserves more given that its the busiest pedestrian entry into campus. Good news about ripping out the parking lot next to the church; the more they replace open lots with green space the better, plus that new parking structure is opening next Spring, so there’s replacement spaces that will be coming online shortly.
I’m also not surprised that the university hasn’t announced it formally — since some have fond memories of the ‘finger fountain’. I’m guessing it will find a new home as a sculptural piece somewhere else on campus.
Thanks again for the photos; always look forward to your monthly updates, and will be very interested to see how your firm’s streetscape improvements come together.