Long the most powerful philanthropist in town, Mr. Broad has made it his mission to transform this stretch of downtown into the sort of tourist-worthy “museum mile,” or arts center, that enriches other cities. He has helped to create two leading institutions here, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) and the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and written sizable checks to neighbors like the Los Angeles Opera. His new museum, the Broad, with its blue-chip collection of contemporary art and free admission, is expected to draw large crowds.
Yet Mr. Broad’s decades-in-the-making vision for turning Grand Avenue into something grander — the cultural epicenter of a famously spread-out city — still faces substantial roadblocks, from its lack of foot traffic and its bland corporate towers to a debate over its very name: What to call the neighborhood, sometimes billed as the Grand Avenue Arts Corridor?
“I still use the term Grand Avenue Arts Corridor because it suggests a parade of lively arts institutions,” Deborah Borda, the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s chief executive, said. But the Museum of Contemporary Art’s director, Philippe Vergne, said “corridor” sounded “too dusty and dark.” (No one mentioned the historic name, Bunker Hill, with its battleground associations.)
