South Region High School #15 (SRHS 15) is proposed initially, to be a 810-seat senior high school located near the intersection of Alma Avenue and 30th Street in San Pedro.
A opposition to having the school built on LAUSD land at the former Fort MacArthur Upper Reservation is in its infancy and is expected to grow, as the weeks, months and years progress.
IF, and let me repeat IF a new high school is actually built in San Pedro, it needs to be either the John and Muriel Olguin Senior High School, or the John Olguin Senior High School, this is the only thing I am extremely certain of.
I will do my best to keep folks informed, via this blog, to upcoming meetings concerning the proposed school.
Are you for it or against it? Does San Pedro really need it? Where else could a new school be built? What about the Charter High School and the two existing High Schools already in San Pedro?
These are just some of the first questions that need answers, debate, and much more discussion.
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Hello all, my name is Mike Czako and I live right here in the Palisades. I do not pretend to be an expert on politics, the LAUSD or the way the "system" works. I am just a local outsider looking in...a person who loves this community who has an opinion to share. This is the first time I am writing in to these blogs...I want to share some thoughts on the Angels Gate school proposal.
When I look at San Pedro I see one of the most beautiful coastal communities in the world. This is a town so rich with history that I have yet to see another community with so much “local” pride. And when you factor in the people, cultures, personalities and jaw-dropping views that come together...this makes San Pedro a wonderful melting-pot of a town and a truly special place.
I am writing in today because I oppose the school being built at Angels Gate. I oppose the fact that it will make Alma totally impassable and will paralyze our neighborhood. I oppose the sports fields that will literally be in our back yards, flooding bright lights and unnecessary noise pollution in our quiet coastal community. I oppose the fact that our already crowded streets will be over-run by more parked cars. And lastly I oppose LAUSD and our town leaders for “telling” us what they are going to do with our community as opposed to asking us.
I know this is a classic case of “nimby” (not in my back yard) / “pimby” (please in my back yard)...and I know that having new schools in the neighborhood can be a great asset to the community. And I want to make sure this point is understood...I want the children of San Pedro to have new schools, with new amenities and technology. I understand that newer schools may have the benefit of attracting better teachers. I want our kids to have the best of the best...they deserve it. BUT it just doesn’t make sense at Angels Gate. The impact on our community would be too much to bear.
The big questions that I do not have answers too is; do we need a new school, and where would we put it? I may be wrong, but I thought there was some talk about putting a new school in the Ponte Vista area?
One other thing I have been asking myself is “What are some other things we can do with that area of Angels Gate? What can we do that will help our community and really leverage everything that Angels Gate has to offer?”
I have two suggestions/case studies;
Lets look at what Manhattan Beach did with the former Metlox Pottery plant. Metlox was an abandoned ceramics factory with prime real estate (heart of Manhattan Beach.) The former plant was close to a main source of travel/tourism (LAX) with spectacular views. Now lets look at Angels Gate, it's an under-utilized portion of Fort MacArthur’s upper reservation. It is close to prime travel/tourism with our cruise ships traveling in and out of our beautiful port. And as we all know, the views at Angels Gate are breathtaking.
The folks in Manhattan Beach tore down the Metlox Plant and built a beautiful hotel and a quaint walk street with a few boutiques, shops and cafes/restaurants. Using that plan in San Pedro I believe it can work. Taking into consideration that most hotel guests will be coming in from the cruise ships, we can offer a shuttle system to and from the harbor therefore minimizing traffic concerns. And as far as the shops/boutiques and cafes are concerned, lets look at the downtown area with all the lofts being built. When these are finished that will bring in a more affluent consumer..lets keep these new people in San Pedro buying goods from us! Lets not have them travel to RPV or Long Beach. We would provide jobs for the people in San Pedro at the hotel and these new, locally owned shops. Can you picture a more perfect day, going to visit the Korean Friendship Bell, and taking a nice stroll to the shops and sitting with family having a great lunch enjoying the views all while supporting our local business’?
Another idea is we follow what our friends in San Francisco did with the Presidio. That also was a military compound with unbelievable views that was in a state of disrepair. They restored the buildings and turned them into residential and commercial spaces. George Lucas even moved his special effects company Industrial Light and Magic there. The Presidio is much larger that Fort MacArthur, but I am curious if we can follow their lead on a smaller scale. How nice would it be to restore such an important part of this town and bring it back to it's original glory. Along with providing housing we can hopefully follow what Lucas did and attract some business to that area. Since San Pedro has had so many movies filmed here and is so rich with Hollywood history can we attract a production company, or some sort of post-production house? This is also a town rich with artists so what if we could attract a video game company or advertising agency? If those ideas don’t feel quite right, I hope you see my point. If we can attract some type of business/industry that will not overwhelm that space provided I believe it can be a win-win for us. With the recent decline in the economy how excellent would it be to have some new business there, that would not only put a demand on housing but bring more people into town supporting our local business’?
Since LAUSD owns that land those ideas may prove to be impossible, and this all may be a mute point. Like I stated earlier, I am no expert on this subject but I just wanted to share a different point of view what some options for that land may be used for. Angels Gate is spectacular..and considering it’s prime real estate in Southern California that area holds endless possibilities and potential. And the one thing they want to use that land for is the worst option for the community...the traffic and parking situation will overwhelm our neighborhood and the lights/noise from the sports fields will disrupt our quiet coastal community. It just seems like such a wasted opportunity that we don’t use that land for something special. We all want to see San Pedro thrive...and yes there are some changes coming to this town, but lets embrace them, and find a way we can all benefit from these new lofts and changes to our port town! Let’s use that space for something that will benefit all of San Pedro.
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