They finally had fireworks on NYE in dtla....
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I was in Times square several yrs ago, back when there was pretty much nothing more than a crystal ball dropping from a pole on the roof of a bldg and a message board then lighting up giving the date of the first day of the new yr. There were fireworks going off several blocks to the north around central pk, but not in times sq itself.
that was the way it had been done for decades. but nowadays, ppl....including me....are so spoiled & jaded, that watching a spherical object drop on a pole or looking at virtual fireworks projected against the backdrop of LA city hall just don't seem satisfying enough any longer.
Either way, LA has historically lacked anything...any public gathering space, period....on the night before the new yr. Pasadena, at least on the first day of the new yr, has had to do all the heavy lifting for the LA area for over 100 yrs.
Grand Pk on NYE: Better late than never!
A recent article about the site of a new museum next to the coliseum in expo pk suggests that being the final, approved location may be more ambiguous than assumed a few months ago. If so....if the decision that reportedly will be made shortly....goes against LA, that will be a big kick in the face to some of the major ppl...particularly friends of Lucas like jeffrey Katzenberg....who've been working on bringing the museum to expo pk.
Quote:
George Lucas museum location still up in the air
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published on Jan. 3, 2017
George Lucas is no stranger to epic struggles on the big screen, but he didn’t expect one off-camera when it came to his art collection.
For nearly a decade, the filmmaker has tried to build a museum to house an extensive personal collection that includes 40,000 paintings, illustrations and film-related items. But legal entanglements and other complications have thwarted his efforts.
After several false starts, Lucas and his art team say they will decide later this month whether to put the museum in San Francisco or Los Angeles, a strategy that has stirred a California rivalry.
The prize is big, and both cities want it badly.
“This is the largest civic gift in American history,” LA Mayor Eric Garcetti told The Associated Press. “I think Los Angeles is the natural home for it” — a notion that San Francisco officials enthusiastically contest.
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, as it will be called, promises hundreds of jobs and a high-profile attraction — and it’s essentially free. The “Star Wars” creator is financing the project himself. He plans to spend more than $1 billion to build the museum, endow it and provide a trove of initial artworks valued at over $400 million. Together with Chinese architect Ma Yansong, Lucas has proposed a sleek, futuristic design looks like a cross between the Guggenheim and a galactic starfighter.
In October, Lucas unveiled similar but competing designs for Los Angeles and San Francisco sites, turning the project into a public competition. It seems to have worked. Government leaders in both cities have unanimously approved it. And officials are quick to stress that this time there is no apparent opposition, and construction could begin quickly ahead of a projected 2020 finish date.
Later this month, Lucas is convening the museum’s board to decide between two distinct locations.
In San Francisco, his project would virtually have an island unto itself. The city offered Lucas a 4-acre waterfront plot on Treasure Island, a man-made creation in the middle of the bay with cinematic views of the city skyline.
Lucas has spent most of his life in the San Francisco area, and Lucasfilm was based in the city before he sold it in 2012 to Disney Co.
Los Angeles has offered Lucas a 7-acre spot in Exposition Park, a sprawling cultural compound that holds three other museums and the Coliseum, home to the LA Rams. It has its own light rail station and is near the main campus of the University of Southern California, where Lucas went to film school.
“A museum should not be cloistered away from the people,” LA Mayor Garcetti said. “We don’t live life on islands.”
If Lucas has a favorite, Bacigalupi won’t say.
But Bacigalupi calls Treasure Island “sort of magical.” Not only does it offer stunning views, but the island would give the museum an iconic location on the water’s edge, which he compares to the Sydney Opera House. And, he says, Lucas is deeply devoted to the Bay Area.
Los Angeles is exciting for different reasons, he said. Its proximity to schools and being part of a community of museums “is certainly attractive,” he said. And, like San Francisco, Los Angeles is part of Lucas’ history.
“These are two spectacular places. Two great cities,” Bacigalupi says. “It’s a tough decision. But for all the right reasons.”
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