Third Street Promenade

Third Street Promenade

A picture taken in the heart of the Promenade
Location	Santa Monica, California, USA
Opening date	November 8, 1965
Developer	The Hahn Company and The Rouse Company
Management	Downtown Santa Monica, Inc.
Owner	Multiple owners, including Federal Realty Investment Trust, KLM Equities.
Parking	Structured
Website	Third Street Promenade and Downtown Santa Monica

The Third Street Promenade is a pedestrian mall shopping, dining and entertainment complex in the downtown area of Santa Monica, California which originally opened as the Santa Monica Mall on November 8, 1965. It is considered a premier shopping and dining district on the Westside and draws crowds from all over the Greater Los Angeles area. Due to easy access to Downtown Los Angeles via the E Line's terminus station, its proximity to historic Santa Monica Pier, and the Pacific Ocean coupled with Los Angeles's mild climate, it is also a popular tourist destination.

History

Third Street has been a center of business in Santa Monica since the town's inception in the late 19th century. The Promenade's roots date back to November 8, 1965 when three blocks of Third Street were converted into a pedestrian mall. Although successful, by the late 1970s, the Santa Monica Mall (as it was then called), was in need of modernization and a redesign. A new enclosed shopping center, Santa Monica Place (1980–2007), designed by Frank Gehry was added at the Promenade's southern end. A citywide bond measure was issued and architectural firm ROMA Design Group was hired to redesign Santa Monica Mall. The renamed Third Street Promenade opened on September 16, 1989. The project was part of a larger redevelopment effort, encompassing several blocks of Downtown Santa Monica. Santa Monica Place has since been renovated into a new open-air shopping and dining venue that re-opened on August 6, 2010.

Street performers and entertainers are a frequent sight on the street. On a typical Saturday night in the summer, singer-songwriters, classical guitar players, magicians, clowns, hip-hop dancers, lounge singers, session drummers, and other artists line up approximately 40 feet (12 m) to 50 feet (15 m) apart from each other all along Third Street.

The Third Street Promenade and Downtown Santa Monica are overseen by Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. (formerly Bayside District Corporation), a private non-profit 501(c)(3) that works with the City of Santa Monica to manage services and operations in Downtown Santa Monica that promote economic stability, growth and community life within Downtown Santa Monica.

Photo gallery

• 
  Trees along Third Street lit up for the Holidays.
• 
  Broadway Theatre on Third Street.
• 
  Businesses on Third Street, between Utah and Oregon (now Santa Monica Blvd.), 1880.

External links

• Third Street Promenade and Downtown Santa Monica
• How Santa Monica's Third Street Became a Promenade - KCET - LA as Subject
• Image of the remodeled business district, then known as Santa Monica Mall, California, 1965. Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.