After months of planning, discussion and anticipation, the city of Culver City will host an open house at 6 o’clock Thursday evening around the theme, “Visioning for a Hospitality & Entertainment District near the 405 and 90 freeways, including the lately talked about freeway-oriented-signage.”

For the two-hour community meeting in the Multi-Purpose Room at the Vets Auditorium, the city is taking an initial step in the potential creation of a Hospitality & Entertainment District overlay.

City Hall says this open house is an opportunity for members of the community to learn more about this proposal and provide initial feedback.

The visioning process is expected to build upon the hotels and regional mall and may include: A mix of uses, a more predominant southern gateway for the city, enhanced streetscape, landscaping, bicycle and pedestrian connections, public art, branding and signage.

Marissa Aho, project manager for PlaceWorks, the city’s consultant, and Todd Tipton, Assistant Community Development Director/Economic Development Manager for the city, will jointly lead the discussion.

Ms. Aho may be contacted at 213.623.1443, Mr. Tipton at 310.253.5763 or todd.tipton@culvercity.org

Last Nov. 10, the City Council approved a contract with PlaceWorks to conduct a visioning process for an area generally adjacent to the 405 and 90 freeways. In addition to this open house, there will be more opportunities for the public to provide further comment and input on this important subject. Public notification will be provided regarding these opportunities, including when the results of the visioning process are presented to the City Council for consideration.

For additional information, access documents related to the open house presentation at www.culvercity.org (on the home page under Announcements).

Mr. Wynn may be contacted at billwynn2002@yahoo.com