Historic Park around Los Angeles City Hall Turns Greener with LED Lighting

When the park surrounding Los Angeles City Hall reopened after eight months of repair work, sustainability and energy conservation were among a variety of articulated criteria for its restoration. City Hall Park was cordoned off by chain-link fence last year after police cleared hundreds of Occupy L.A. demonstrators who had camped on the lawn for nearly two months.

“We were presented with a choice ― Reinvest in a park that is greener, smarter and more sustainable,” proclaimed Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at the official reopening ceremony in July.

The nearly $1 million in renovations included a smart irrigation installation, water retention schemes, turf reduction, replanting with water-stingy native vegetation, and investing in “energy-efficient LED lighting,” said the mayor.

Strewn around the tree-lined pathways and stairs of the 1.7-acre park are 13 lampposts whose ballasted 130-watt high-pressure-sodium post-top bulbs have recently been replaced with 27-watt LED lamps from LEDtronics, Inc., of Torrance, California.