While the lead agency for the Hollywood Central Park prepares its initial study and notice of preparation, supporters of the effort continue to raise money to construct a 44-acre park above the Hollywood (101) Freeway.

This rendering shows what the park could look like. The overall design is very much up in the air. (rendering courtesy of the Friends of Hollywood Central Park)

The Friends of the Hollywood Central Park on Jan. 9 held its annual “For the Love of Hollywood” celebration at the Taglyan Complex, where organizers raised approximately $100,000 for the freeway cap park.

“As I see the dream come to fruition and all these wonderful folks, [I must say] this thing is so gorgeous — this park over the Hollywood Freeway, over the El Camino Real, where dreams still happen for so many people,” said Richard Montoya, of Culture Clash, who served as the celebration’s master of ceremonies.

The evening served as an opportunity for the Friends of the Hollywood Central Park to honor individuals and entities that have assisted in the preparations of the park, which began as an idea approximately 30 years ago.

The honorees were Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles); Major General Anthony Jackson, director of California State Parks; the Hollywood/Los Angeles Beautification Team; and the Southern California Association of Governments.

While honoring their supporters, organizers learned that an additional source of assistance — the federal government — had designated a Promise Zone in Los Angeles that encapsulates the project site.

“It places a higher priority on the applications for grant funding that comes from within that region,” U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said on Tuesday, adding that the designation does not guarantee or commit funding. “A lot of the goals that will be advanced by the park and some of the wrap-around services and opportunities that will be presented in the park will qualify for grants, and they’ll have a better chance [of being approved].”

Laurie Goldman, president of Friends of Hollywood Central Park, said the organization was a signatory on the memorandum of understanding that was a part of the Promise Zone application. She said the Promise Zone initiative, an anti-poverty program, looks at five criteria, one of which is job creation.

“The park, as far as I know, is the largest job creator within the Promise Zone,” Goldman said, adding that the park is expected to create 30,000 direct and indirect jobs over the course of 10 years.

Schiff did not attend the event, but sent a video praising the cause. Last year, he convened a meeting with the Federal Highway Administration, the California Department of Transportation and the city of Los Angeles to outline an environmental impact report (EIR) framework and timeline.

“I look forward to the day when a child in Hollywood can run down his or her street, run right over the Hollywood Freeway and run right into a park in their backyard,” the congressman said in the video.

Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, 13th District, agreed.

“Everyone will soon understand this is not just a park we are building,” he said. “We are concerting our duty as leaders who value and deeply appreciate Hollywood and understand its limitless potential. We will build something truly magnificent that will serve as a economic engine that will help drive Los Angeles economy for decades to come.”

O’Farrell spoke about the history of the 101 Freeway. When it was constructed, it was the “culmination of mid-century utopian American idealism,” and planners thought the freeway system would be the end of the investment in city streets, he said.

While the freeways were under construction, city officials were busy dismantling Los Angeles’ rail system, “which created decades of difficult, compounding mobility issues we’re dealing with to this day,” O’Farrell said.

When it was completed in 1954, the freeway left an open wound that divided neighborhoods in the Hollywood area, he said. Decades later, officials are taking steps to remove “the scar” that has divided the neighborhoods for so many years, the councilman said.

“Our Camino Real will have a world-class park, bring thousands of jobs, foster economic development and be surrounded by mixed-income neighborhoods, a key ingredient to providing vibrancy and a quality of life that the residents in my district and this great city deserve,” the councilman said. “The park will stretch through some of the most economically disadvantaged, park-poor neighborhoods in the city. …There is not greater justification for this great park. Like everyone in this room, I stand ready to do whatever is humanly possible to make sure this park — our park — gets built.”

Philip Aarons, chair of the Friends of Hollywood Central Park, said the project has proceeded at a steady rate, and that it made “truly significant” progress in 2013.

“And that’s amazingly exciting,” he said. “Each year keeps getting better and better in moving toward our goal of building a central park for Hollywood on top of the 101 Freeway. …Today, we are hard at work with the extensive environmental analysis this project requires. We have been greatly helped in that effort by our partner and lead agency, the [Los Angeles] Department of Recreation and Parks.”

Goldman said she hopes a scoping meeting for the project will be held in mid-February, with a draft EIR released this summer. However, that timeline could always change, she said.

The Friends of the Hollywood Central Park will again return to Washington, D.C., in March, she said. However, the group will travel to Chicago first to look at Millennium Park in Chicago, which was constructed over a rail yard, Goldman said.

She said she was encouraged by the fundraiser last week and the support it garnered for the project.

“I believe that we can do this, and it looked like everyone in the room believed it too,” Goldman added.

For information, visit www.hollywoodcentralpark.org.