With a band of traditional Korean drummers, a Latin dance group and a martial arts exhibition, city officials broke ground Wednesday on a small urban pocket park at the site where Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated 40 years ago.

Few in the crowd of more than 200 knew much about Kennedy except that he had been shot to death at the site of the old Ambassador Hotel after winning California's Democratic presidential primary in 1968.

But many said they thought a park would be a fitting tribute to the late senator and a valuable resource to the crowded, multiethnic community.

"I'm too young to remember, but I thought the words said about him today were very touching," said Dore Burry, who works at the nearby Koreatown Youth and Community Center.