In 1946, Joseph Bushard was a young pharmacist just out of USC. He opened a drugstore in a building he put up himself on Forest Avenue. Eighty years later, according to the Orange County Register, Bushard's Pharmacy still works out of that building, in its original footprint and never remodeled. What has changed is the street outside its door. On Friday, Sept. 25, Bushard's held its 80th anniversary and Moulin, the Parisian-style cafe nearby, held its 10th. Both parties shared the evening with the ribbon-cutting for the permanent Promenade on Forest.
Marisa Fader, Bushard's granddaughter, now runs the store. She told the Register that since part of the plaza opened in July, "We've seen an uptick in people shopping and eating and enjoying the promenade." That fits the plan. The city rebuilt lower Forest as a shared public room for dining, gathering and performances, and the room will matter most on the nights something is booked into it. The next booking is free and takes place on Thursday, Oct. 22.
From Pandemic Parklets to a Permitted Plaza
The original promenade began on June 15, 2020, as a pandemic measure. The city's project page says it was meant "to support local businesses by expanding restaurant seating and merchandise display areas outdoors." The Register reports that it cost about $250,000, including $10,000 for security.
The permanent version covers the stretch from Glenneyre Street to Coast Highway and cost far more. The Daily Pilot reports a $5.5-million construction contract awarded to Superb Engineering in January and an overall estimate of $7.3 million. The Register gives $7.2 million and quotes City Manager Dave Kiff saying the project came in under budget.
The language in the permit changed along with the budget. When the Planning Commission approved Design Review 25-0319 and Coastal Development Permit 25-0318 on April 2, 2025, the approved scope included "seats and tables for outdoor dining and gathering for the general public." The city's list of key features also includes "designated areas for temporary performances." The pandemic version gave storefronts room in the street. The permanent version's approvals keep the dining and add public gathering and performance space to the plan.
It took more than six years to get from the temporary plaza to the permanent one:
- January 12, 2021. The City Council extended the temporary program through January 31, 2024.
- April 23, 2024. The council said it wanted a permanent pedestrian plaza.
- April 8, 2025. The council adopted a Slow Streets ordinance, Chapter 11.70 of the municipal code, as the legal tool for closing the street.
- June 11, 2025. The council upheld the design and coastal approvals.
- August 15, 2025. The California Coastal Commission found no substantial issue with an appeal.
- February 17, 2026. Construction began.
What the Rebuilt Room Contains
The Register reports that the roadway, curbs, sidewalks and parking spaces are gone. A brick promenade with artistic features and seating areas has replaced them. Some of what's there now:
- Rustic tumbled brick paving. It covers the plaza floor, with permeable surfaces and linear trench drains built in.
- A fountain inspired by a kelp forest. It is the plaza's main feature.
- New planting. Kiff told the Register that the unstable and diseased eucalyptus trees came out this summer. The replacements were chosen to suit a "saline" environment, and decomposed granite was used to help with drainage.
- Public art. The city said work by local artists Marlo Bartels, Larry Gill and Carolyn Reynolds would be reinstalled. In the final week, more art pieces went in, along with a nautilus bench and bike racks.
- Wider walkways along the storefronts. These sit next to new tree plantings and gardens of shrubs, vines and flowering groundcover.
A few items were still unfinished at the opening. At the Sept. 22 council meeting, Kiff said full electrical service for the fountain, audio system and Wi-Fi should be running that Wednesday. The Register's report a few days later listed some interior brickwork, activation of the Wi-Fi speaker system and "a few tweaks" at the Coast Highway end as still to come. None of the coverage confirms that list has been finished.
The project has opponents. The Register notes that some residents argued the plaza reduces parking, takes away from the town's historic character and could make flooding worse.
A Venue Lives on Its Calendar
Mayor Mark Orgill compared the plaza to the other places downtown where people gather. He told the Daily Pilot:
"You go to the [Laguna] Playhouse, you're in seating. You go to the Cultural Arts Center, you're primarily seated. It's a different experience. [At] the promenade, you can listen to music and you can socialize at the same time."
He also tied the plaza to Vision Laguna 2030. That plan was produced around the turn of the millennium, with about 2,000 residents helping to map out the town's future, and it called for a central gathering place. Orgill told the Register that some groups were already using it. He mentioned reading circles, and said high school students had talked about using it as a meeting space.
That kind of informal use doesn't need a schedule. The performance areas do. This summer the city ran live music on the plaza from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from July 10 through Aug. 30. Lodging establishments and the city paid for the series. Street performers apply for a city permit. The city's Promenade on Forest stage page doesn't list any fall music dates. With no city series this fall, outside programs will decide what happens on the plaza for now.
October 22: Films on Forest
The first of those programs comes from the Coast Film & Music Festival. Its eighth annual run is Oct. 16 to 25, with a lineup of 80 documentary features and shorts. Culture OC's fall festival guide lists free outdoor screenings at the Promenade on Forest on Oct. 22, which is a Thursday. Admission is first-come, first-served, and no reservation is needed. The festival's save-the-date announcement calls Films on Forest an outdoor community program with films, live music, conversations and partner activations.
That description lines up with what the 2025 approvals planned for: a gathering space for the general public and an area for temporary performances. Most of the festival's other events have a price. Feature screenings run $20 to $35, and concerts at the Irvine Bowl start at $80. The Irvine Bowl concerts are Oct. 23 to 25, so the Forest screening falls the night before the festival's concert weekend begins. Seating isn't reserved, so the plaza's public tables are the only seats there are.
Outdoor Dining Is Still Being Sorted Out Elsewhere
Restaurants in the rest of the Village don't have a plaza like this. Their outdoor space depends on permits. On Sept. 22, the City Council voted 5–0 to send proposed parking-code changes to community workshops. It also told staff to help businesses get temporary outdoor-dining and coastal permits by Jan. 1, 2027, which creates an 18-month transition while permanent rules are written. Stu News Laguna reported that, under the proposal, outdoor dining areas of up to 500 square feet may be exempt from parking requirements when they are no larger than the indoor dining area. That process is still underway. On Forest, the city has already built the outdoor space, with tables approved for dining and gathering by the general public.
The Sept. 25 opening showed how the space can work. Moulin's staff handed out baked goods, and the 133 Band played after the ribbon-cutting. Admission to the screenings is free, and the first people to arrive get the tables.
Team Laguna has followed lower Forest Avenue from parklets to permits to brick pavers. If you'd like to talk about how the changes downtown affect a Village home you own, rent out or are thinking of buying, Team Laguna is close by. Contact Us.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
