Story Created:
Feb 18, 2009 at 8:08 PM PST
Story Updated:
Feb 18, 2009 at 8:40 PM PST
HUNTINGTON PARK — The City Council Tuesday night hired a firm to broker an agreement with the Los Angeles Unified School District in a land swap that will result in the district constructing a high school on what is now Westside Park, located on Gage Avenue east of Alameda Street.
LAUSD plans to use the park as part of its site for South Region High School No. 7 and in return will develop for the city a new four-acre park north of Gage along Little Alameda, a frontage road east of Alameda, said Parks and Recreation Director Josette Espinosa.
Council members appointed the firm of Urban Associates to broker the deal.
Urban Associates will negotiate a land swap agreement between the city and the district at no cost to the city and will help LAUSD develop the replacement park with the school district paying that cost, Espinosa said.
That park will be on the site formerly occupied by “La Montaña,” a large pile of broken concrete which the city went to court to successfully remove.
It has since been acquired by the school district.
The city will lose the use of Westside Park for nine months but will then have a new park on the west side and would have joint use of athletic fields and a swimming pool planned by the district, Espinosa said.
Because the replacement park will be between two industrial buildings, there will be 10-foot high block walls on the north and south sides, making it difficult for police patrols to view the site from the street.
Urban Associates will employ a professional park landscape firm to design a facility with the most visibility possible, Espinosa said.
She noted that Urban Associates has done similar work with the LAUSD in the cities of Bell, Cudahy, Maywood and South Gate.
Planned since July 2004, the new high school will be on about 12 acres bounded by Gage on the south, Alameda on the west and Cottage Street on the east. The replacement park will be on its northern boundary.
It is proposed to house 60 classrooms for some 1,620 students per semester in grades nine through 12.
The building will include administrative offices, a gym, a multipurpose room, cafeteria, food services area, lunch shelter, library, outdoor recreation area, a swimming pool and underground parking.
South Regional High School No. 7 will relieve overcrowding at Huntington Park High School.
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