A key gift brings the arts to yet another spot in downtown L.A.

In early 2016, the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles received a major philanthropic gift of $1.9 million from developer Leonard Hill to fund the design, construction, and initial programming of an arts plaza beneath the new Sixth Street Bridge.

The gift includes funding for a stage and a public performing arts series, features that will draw valuable recreational and community-building opportunities to the area. The arts plaza will be one part of the Sixth Street Viaduct Park, Arts, and River Connectivity (PARC) Improvements project running adjacent to the new bridge and the L.A. River. The new bridge, designed by HNTB and Michael Maltzan, is scheduled for completion in 2019, with arts plaza programming beginning the following year.

Leonard Hill, who passed away in 2016, was a founding partner of Linear City Development, a native Angeleno, and a longtime television producer. He helmed notable developments like the Toy Factory Lofts and Biscuit Lofts residential adaptive reuse projects, both linchpins in the renewal of the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District neighborhood. Hill’s gift demonstrates the potential for public-private partnerships to transform city centers for the better.