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Third Street Promenade Timeline
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Photos courtesy of Downtown Santa Monica
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Former Mayor Denny Zane celebrating opening day on September 16, 1989. He coined this project "new-urbanist smart growth planning."
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When planning began for the outdoor shopping center more than 25 years ago, there was no blueprint, model or benchmark to measure it against because, at the time, the general opinion among urban planners was that the indoor mall was the only workable mode
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Above is the construction of one of the center's infamous foliage dinosaurs, built by Claude and Francois Lalanne. (See the final outcome here.)
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A retro look at 3rd and Wilshire. Downtown Santa Monica tells us that "it's estimated that nearly one-third of the malls in the U.S. have been torn down and turned inside out in an effort to try and, at least in part, replicate the Promenade."
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A look at Third Street Promenade today. "The precise fusion of ocean air, talented buskers, eclectic architecture, public access and accountability fosters a space that people cherish and enjoy that cannot be replicated."