Oscar Grant Plaza
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Frank H. Ogawa Plaza is a
public square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...
located in
Downtown Oakland Downtown Oakland is the central business district of Oakland, California, United States; roughly bounded by both the Oakland Estuary and Interstate 880 on the southwest, Interstate 980 on the northwest, Grand Avenue on the northeast, and Lak ...
.


Location and elements

Occupy Oakland Nov 12 2011 PM 29.jpg Frank H. Ogawa Plaza is located where San Pablo Avenue converges with Broadway and 14th Street. The west side of the plaza is the site of
Oakland City Hall Oakland City Hall is the seat of government for the city of Oakland, California. The current building was completed in 1914, and replaced a prior building that stood on what is now Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. Standing at the height of , it was the first ...
and a city office building. Around the plaza are several Beaux-Arts styled commercial buildings from the early 20th century. New buildings have been constructed to fit visually with the older architecture. The plaza is a public space. Most of the plaza is composed of "The Commons", a raised lawn. The plaza also features "The Forum", or amphitheater—a space for public gatherings and performances. A portion of San Pablo Avenue which runs along the north side of the plaza has been pedestrianized and incorporated into the plaza, along with the blocks of 15th Street on either side of the plaza. An entrance to the 12th Street/Oakland City Center BART station is located at the intersection with Broadway. At the center of the plaza is a single large
Coast Live Oak ''Quercus agrifolia'', the California live oak, or coast live oak, is a highly variable, often evergreen oak tree, a type of live oak, native to the California Floristic Province. It may be shrubby, depending on age and growing location, but is ...
, the symbol of the city. The plaza is adjacent to the
Oakland City Center Oakland City Center is an office, shopping and hotel complex in Downtown Oakland, Oakland, California. The complex is the product of a redevelopment project begun in the late 1950s. It covers twelve city blocks between Broadway on the east, Marti ...
complex, directly across 14th Street to the south. Latham Square, a small plaza where
Telegraph Avenue Telegraph Avenue is a street that begins, at its southernmost point, in the midst of the historic downtown district of Oakland, California, and ends, at its northernmost point, at the southern edge of the University of California, Berkeley cam ...
converges with Broadway, is one block to the northeast.


History

In 1896, the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' reported on a young
Jack London John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...
giving speeches in what was then called "City Hall park". The open space in front of the city hall was part of Oakland's Administrative Buildings project that included the redevelopment of the
city center A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...
in 1994. 1998 marked the completion of the renovated plaza. Along with being the seat of government, the area has become part of the city's arts culture with the annual Art and Soul Festival and publicly commissioned art. In 2001, the city council commissioned a sculpture for the plaza from artist Bruce Beasley. The sculpture, ''Vitality'', was completed in 2002. The plaza has been the site of various protests and civil disobedience.


Name of the plaza

In 1998, the
Oakland City Council The Oakland City Council is an elected governing body representing the City of Oakland, California. Since 1998, Oakland has had a mayor-council government. The mayor is elected for a four-year term. The Oakland City Council has eight council membe ...
renamed City Hall Plaza as "Frank H. Ogawa Plaza" in honor of Frank H. Ogawa, a
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
leader and the first Japanese American to serve on the Oakland City Council. Ogawa served on the Council from 1966 until his death in 1994. The plaza displays a bronze bust of Ogawa.


Occupy Oakland

Members of
Occupy Oakland Occupy Oakland refers to a collaboration and series of demonstrations in Oakland, California that started in October 2011. As part of the Occupy movement, protestors have staged occupations, most notably at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in front of Oakl ...
used Ogawa Plaza as a main protest encampment in the fall of 2011. Their presence was criticized for potential health and safety concerns. However, others defended the camp, presenting statistics showing that Oakland became safer during the occupation; they showed e-mails of police attempting to cover that up. Frank H. Ogawa Plaza was unofficially renamed as "Oscar Grant Plaza" by the Occupy Oakland protesters.
Oscar Grant Oscar Grant III was a 22-year-old African-American man who was killed in the early morning hours of New Year's Day 2009 by BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle in Oakland, California. Responding to reports of a fight on a crowded Bay Area Rapid ...
was a young Hayward man who was shot in the back while lying on the ground by a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer in 2009.


References

{{Oakland, California Occupy Oakland Parks in Oakland, California Tourist attractions in Oakland, California Squares in the United States