Alma Street rendering 1 (click for larger image)
Several members of the Palisades Residents Association board met with representatives of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) yesterday to get the latest word on South Region High School #15 to relay the information to Palisades residents. LAUSD’s Regional Development Director Rod Hamilton, Board of Education District 7 Chief of Staff David Kooper, and District 7 Deputy Chief of Staff Jacob Haik filled us in.
This coming April or May, eight historic WWI buildings will be moved into the newly created “historic district” on LAUSDs property at Angels Gate where ten WWI buildings are already in place. Two of these buildings will eventually become prototypical historic buildings restored to near-original condition including redwood siding. The other buildings may be available to community groups in exchange for a low rent and building restoration. This is still in discussion. One of these WWI buildings may be available eventually for the Skills Center automotive program which was moved to the Harbor Occupational Center. The WWII buildings will be razed. Fort MacArthur Museum is in talks with LAUSD about possibly saving and moving one or two WWII buildings onto Ft. Mac property.
Also, in April or May, Angels Gate Continuation High School and the Early Education Center will be moved into portable classrooms placed on the sides of the parking area in front of the International Bird Rescue Center and Marine Mammal Care Center. Grading and remediation of contaminated earth will happen at this time. LAUSD will get back to us whether contaminated earth will be removed by trucks or recycled on site.
The migratory bird study, a special condition requested by the California Coastal Commission (CCC) for approval of the coastal permit, has begun. LAUSD will go before the CCC again in 2010 to seek approval for 36 wind turbines.
This fall the site will be ready for construction. Construction will begin no later than January 2010 and will last for 2 years and 4 months. The Point Fermin Outdoor Education Center (PFOEC) construction, which has already begun, should be finished in 2010. Offsite work on Alma and Gaffey Streets will be in late 2011 or early 2012. The new high school is expected to open in the fall of 2012.
Alma Street rendering 2 (click for larger image)
Alma Street will be widened by 7’ along the entire LAUSD property to straighten out the curves in the road and an 8′ sidewalk will be constructed. No residents’ property will changed. A traffic light will be installed on Gaffey Street at 32nd Street. This will be the preferred entrance and exit for busses going to and from the PFOEC provided a Memo of Understanding (MOU) and Joint Use Agreement with the Los Angeles City Department of Recreation and Parks are approved. Barlow Saxton Road (across Gaffey from 32nd Street) is on Rec & Parks land. This road will be slightly reconfigured near the PFOEC. The MOU gives LAUSD access to this road and parking in exchange for road improvements to Barlow Saxton Road, an engineering study on Osgood Farley Road and community access to the high school pool and fields. Rec & Parks will pay for the engineering study.
Alma Street rendering 3 (click for larger image)
Community access to the pool and fields will be after school hours and weekends when school is not in session and high school teams are not practicing. Estimates to restore the Gaffey Street (Hey, Rookie!) pool on Rec & Parks property at Angels Gate ranged from 9 to 10 million dollars.
The MOU between LAUSD and Rec & Parks will be presented at the next Board of Recreation & Parks Commissioners meeting on February 4. See meeting details here.
The historic stone wall surrounding the property will remain, however the fence on top of the wall will be redone. There are no plans to open the entrances to LAUSD property on 37th 36th Street. Utilities will be placed underground so there will not be utility poles on the property (see photos). The school will be 75–100% sustainable and will be CHPS certified. CHPS (pronounced “chips”) is the Collaborative for High Performance Schools which incorporates some of the ideas of LEED for Schools certification
Once the school is ready to be filled with students, the high school will be a magnet school housing 510 students sharing the same administration as San Pedro High School. Students living in San Pedro will be given first priority to entrance in these magnet programs. Currently at San Pedro High School there are slightly fewer than 500 students attending the Police and Marine Science magnets.
If you have questions regarding South Region High School #15 please E-mail the PRA or attend the next Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council meeting when there will be a 30-minute question and answer period.
Related Articles:
Rec & Parks to Meet about SRHS#15
California Coastal Commission approves SRHS#15
Parks Feedback
Filed under: Angels Gate, Ft. MacArthur, Schools, Streets and Traffic, Utilities | 6 Comments »
