MLK Medical Center

Master Plan Takes Shape

By Danny Simon, Contributing Writer

Tasty roast beef sandwiches awaited Watts community members interested in steering the course of the soon to be reinvigorated medical complex.

At previous meetings, community members were solicited for what they thought should be done with the space that has so much potential due to its location: it sits just off the 105 Freeway and is accessible by the Green Line. With schools and local businesses seemingly on board with 2nd District Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas’ plan, this is potentially a coup not just for the supervisor, but for the entire community.

Built in the aftermath of the 1965 Watts rebellion, the Martin Luther King Jr. Medical Center Campus operated continuously from 1972 to 2007, offering access to health care to southeast Los Angeles County residents.

On Oct. 7, Ridley-Thomas along with representatives from the Department of Public Health and South Los Angeles community members celebrated the grand opening of the new Center for Public Health building.

The new facility will offer wellness services specifically targeting health issues that impact South Los Angeles. But that was only the first phase of a $400 million project. The meeting that took place on Oct. 26 was only the third public comment meeting on plans for the rest of the project.

Architect Marty Borko deftly addressed the crowd and presented four renderings of what the future of redevelopment might look like.

Concept one, the community commons, situates large spaces between the proposed structures—the spaces would connect the new and old buildings.

Concept two, the health spine, is an “organic” connection of new and old buildings using parks, paths, and walkways.

Concept three, the central core, is a large park or athletic space that serves as the center point for new and old developments. Concept four, the active grid, creates multiple connections or paths that link both old and new buildings into an interactive campus.

It is likely that the end result will be a combination of aspects of all four approaches.

At this point, the ideas are conceptual and are part of a developing system that is being created by the community discussion process. Large detailed drawings of the concepts covered the walls of the H. Claude Hudson Auditorium and several of the supervisor’s staff listened to the concerns and ideas of community members.

Additionally, those present were given circular stickers to place next to ideas they believed were positive; negative feedback was to be stuck on sticky paper at the bottom of the posters. While this seemed a bit hokey, it did serve to engage community members in expressing what they found important. Similar processes have been used in the waterfront planning process for Wilmington and San Pedro.

“We’ve been damaged in the past so we’re all really careful not to let that happen again,” said one Watts resident about the solid turn out and respectful engagement of Los Angeles County organizers and developers who, on this night, seemed intent on listening and interacting with the assembled crowd.