blogdowntown: Life in Downtown Los Angeles (Stories+Headlines)

Pershing Square's Downtown on Ice Opens 2009-2010 Season

Eric Richardson — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:20:46 -0800

Members of the Los Angeles Ice Theater perform at the opening of the 2009-2010 Downtown on Ice season at Pershing Square. Photo by Eric Richardson.

The first of Downtown's two outdoor ice rinks had its official opening this morning, as Pershing Square's Downtown on Ice returned for its 12th season. The ice is open seven days a week through January 18, 2010.

An hour on the 70 foot by 50 foot sheet of ice is $6, plus $2 for skate rental.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Councilwoman Jan Perry joined Recreation and Parks General Manager John Kirk Murki in commemorating the opening.

Both Villaraigosa and Murki made comments that seemed to be aimed at Downtown's other ice rink, the LA Kings Holiday Ice at L.A. Live. The Mayor noted that the Pershing Square was the city's largest outdoor rink, while Mukri made a point of emphasizing that it was also the cheapest.

The L.A. Live rink opens December 3, with one hour of skating running $10 (including rental). While early reports backed up the Mayor's size comparison, L.A. Live's website now says the rink will be the same size as the one at Pershing.

Hours for the Pershing Square rink are 12pm to 10pm, Monday through Thursday, and 10am to 10pm Friday through Sunday. Special holiday hours from December 18 to January 10 will have the rink open from 10am to 10pm every day. On Thanksgiving, the rink will open at 2pm.

More information, including a schedule of live entertainment, can be found on the Pershing Square website.

By Eric Richardson.

Headline: Bay Area BART Police Trial Moving to LA

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:06:12 -0800

www.sfgate.com -- Judge ruled Thursday LA is where Johannes Mehserle, the former BART officer accused of murdering an unarmed passenger, will get a fair trial. via laist

Faulty Railing May Have Led to Alexandria Death

Eric Richardson — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:41:57 -0800

Police tape blocks off a section of Spring street where the Coroner's office had just removed the body of an 87-year-old man. Photo by Eric Richardson.

A failed fire escape railing may have led to the death of an 87-year-old resident of the Alexandria this morning.

Spring street was closed for over two hours this morning as police investigated what they are calling an accidental fall. They believe that the man was leaning on a railing which gave way, causing him to lose his balance and drop approximately nine floors. They do not believe the incident was a suicide or that foul play was involved.

A section of that railing lay on the street next to the man, whose body was removed by the Coroner's office shortly before 8:30am. Officials on-scene were preparing to reopen the street to traffic, which was heavily backed up to the north as morning commuters encountered the closure.

The 1906 Alexandria Hotel was recently renovated as affordable housing by The Amerland Group.

By Eric Richardson.

With No Parking Revenue, Moinian Faces Foreclosure Across from Staples Center

Eric Richardson — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:49:54 -0800

A June temporary injunction forbid developer The Moinian Group from running parking operations on the site of the proposed L.A. Central development. Now, the developer faces foreclosure. Photo by Eric Richardson.

In June, Moinian Group Director of Development Oskar Brecher said that the loss of parking revenue on an $80-million lot across from Staples Center could send the project into default. Turns out, he was right.

The Downtown News reported today that Wachovia Bank has initiated foreclosure proceedings after the project missed payments. The paper reports that the developer owes $45.6 million on a $55 million loan.

Also in June, Brecher said that debt service on the site was "approximately $495,000 per month."

The four acre site has been fenced off since June, when Superior Court judge David P. Yaffe forbid Moinian from operating parking on the lot. AEG, which sold Moinian the lot in 2006, appears to retain the right to operate parking until the developer breaks ground. It filed a lawsuit earlier this year after Moinian had begun to collect parking revenue.

Further complicating matters is a lawsuit filed by architects RTKL, who were contracted to design the project that was supposed to rise on the lot. It would have featured 860 market-rate residential units, a 222 room hotel and 250,000 square feet of retail.

RTKL claims that it is owed $3.6 million on its $14 million contract. It is attempting to foreclose on a lien filed against the land.

While the land is a prime development site, terms in AEG's sale contract and the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment District plan limit what a prospective buyer could do with the parcel. The entertainment company retains a repurchase right should the project not break ground 48 months after the sale, but given the reduction in land values since the real estate peak, it seems more likely that it could acquire the property another way at less than the original price.

By Eric Richardson.

Metro Says Fully Underground Connector Feasible, Could Cost 20% More

Eric Richardson — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:54:24 -0800

A rendering released today by Metro shows the routing that a fully underground Regional Connector might take. Photo by Metro.

Little Tokyo's call for a fully grade-separated Regional Connector has been answered. Metro today used its blog to unveil early engineering study results, which it then presented to a Little Tokyo working group meeting later in the evening.

The transit agency warned that the new configuration, which continues under 1st and Alameda below-ground, could add $200 million to the project's cost. That didn't faze community members, who voted to endorse further study of the new option.

The new option presents a significant change for the Regional Connector project, proposed to connect all of Metro's light rail lines and allow trains to run from Long Beach to Pasadena and Culver City to East L.A. At public meetings in late 2007 and early 2008, Metro staff was clear that the design of the Gold Line Eastside Extension precluded an option that would both be fully underground and have a Little Tokyo station.

While Metro has been studying what it calls an "underground-emphasis" option for the Connector, designs have shown the line surfacing on the block currently occupied by Office Depot and crossing 1st and Alameda at street level. That would allow it to connect into the existing at-grade station.

The new alternative would instead place a station underneath the Office Depot site, with trains continuing under the intersection as tracks split to emerge via portals along Alameda and in the middle of 1st.

The Alameda portal would be located north of Temple street, while the 1st street tracks would rise just east of Alameda, leveling off just past Hewitt. Some temporary track on 1st would allow the newly-opened Gold Line Eastside Extension to continue operating throughout construction.

The fate of the existing Little Tokyo / Arts District station would be uncertain. The underground tracks would enable trains to run from Downtown to Pasadena or East L.A., but direct service from Pasadena to East L.A. could only continue if Metro kept the above-ground station and tracks.

While the underground alignment was welcomed, construction impacts could still prove tricky. Both the underground station and the 1st and Alameda crossing would be built using cut-and-cover construction. That requires closure of the intersection as crews dig down far enough to erect a cap over the site and continue the work below.

Metro also needs a site to lower the twin tunnel boring machines into the ground. That's a 3-4 week process for machines that are 26-feet in diameter and 300 feet long. Likely sites are 2nd and Central or 2nd and Hope.

Along with making Little Tokyo stakeholders happy, the new alternative has benefits for those involved in Broadway revitalization. While stations at 5th and Flower and 2nd and Hope have been pretty firmly set, the third Connector station was to go either at 2nd and Broadway or 2nd and Los Angeles. With the fourth underground station, Metro would choose the Broadway siting.

Metro staff will now add the fully underground option as a third build alternative in the environmental process. Cost estimates currently range from $709 million for the above ground alternative to approximately $1.1 billion for the new option.

It will not be until the summer of 2010 that the Metro board chooses one option as the Locally Preferred Alternative.

By Eric Richardson.

School Search: Solano Elementary

Susana Benavidez — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:26:26 -0800

This story is an installment of Kid-Friendly Downtown.

A young student uses one of Solano Elementary's computers, donated through a partnership with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Photo by Susana Benavidez.

It seems like I have been looking for a school since Bella and Iza were kicking in my belly: first there was the traumatic daycare hunt that aged me five years, then the pre-school stressor and now the hovering animal called Kindergarten. To keep other Downtown parents from my fate, this series will showcase schools and day cares that can save your sanity, beauty and youth.

Solano Elementary is the needle in a LAUSD haystack. I considered not sharing it, out of fear that my own kids will not be able to get in when you all rush to enroll. My excitement got the best of me, though, and I decided that this local school is too good to keep to myself.

Back in January we published an excel list comparing test scores and diversity of elementary schools surrounding Downtown Los Angeles and the school that people usually mention as a solution for Downtown -- Castelar Elementary -- did not look so stellar. I didn’t know about Solano back then, so don’t think I was holding back as part of some evil-minded selfish motivation for my own children. Anyway, they were too young back then for those thoughts to cross my mind.

Since then, though, I had heard good things about Solano Elementary, just slightly farther from the heart of Downtown. To investigate, I scheduled an interview with Principal Richard Hickcox.

To get there, I walked a couple of blocks to 8th/Hill and hopped on Metro bus 83. 20 minutes later I was at Broadway and Solano. A quick walk up the hill brought me to the 110 freeway. A moment after doubting Google maps I saw there was an underground tunnel to get across to the other side. That sight activated new fears of gangs and darkness, but as you can witness from this article I made it safely to the other side and the shining educational beacon that goes by the name of Solano Elementary.

The school's ethnicity breakdown is 57% Asian, 33.6% Hispanic, 3.8% Filipino, 3.0 % White, 2.6% Black. They have an Academic Performing Index (API) of 915, they were awarded the Blue Ribbon Award this year, they consistently score above the target test scores and they have low enrollment.

Those are beautiful words to a parent -- Open Enrollment means that you do not have to live in the area to apply to get in the school even though they are not a magnet or charter. The school currently has about 243 students and has pre-school through 6th grade.

Principal Hickcox was beyond generous with his time in speaking to me about his school because after 10 years at Solano, it should be referred as HIS school. His planned retirement is in three years and though his shoes will be hard to fill, I hope that the next up for the job is school coordinator Ms. Garrison. She is not only a 2008 Milken Educator of the Year recipient but also a clear indicator of what a good devoted teacher can do to a classroom. Her 4th graders scored in the 93rd percentile in English Language Arts and in the 100th percentile for Mathematics (2008-2009 school year).

As I followed Principal Hickcox to the auditorium/library/pre-school room it quickly became evident that he is efficient and resourceful; the pre-school room resides in half of the auditorium, there are “offices” for Ms. Garrison and teachers on the auditorium stage and shelves divide the pre-K from the computer lab/library.

The wonderful thing is that Principal Hickcox has taken what the budget cuts have left him with and made it work in the interim (cue monetary donations).

The library is brimming with books and even though it had a lot going on it still managed to look tidy and roomy. Little hands clicked and typed away at the Apple computers that were purchased with a donation from the Los Angeles Dodgers via the Adopt-A-School program. When was the last time you stepped into an inner-city LAUSD school and observed three and four year-old kids easily navigating a computer?

As we made our way into the award-decorated hallway; picture samples that the first-grade students had done celebrating Latino Culture caught my eye. At which grade level do the students learn to read I wondered out loud? “Let me show you”, Principal Hickcox told me as he led me into a class room whose walls were a testament to the hard work of the teachers at Solano; reading and writing prompts remind the student what is required in their thought and articulation process and another poster listed the grading rubric to explain what was required in order to have a successful paper in the class.

The students have major writing assignments, writing workshops available to them, homework club after school, and a six week writing process that preps them for college. They are tested and evaluated on their ability to write a six-week term paper and a two hour on-demand paper (one hour for prepping and one hour the next day for the actual writing process). Does this bring back nightmares of high school and college papers exams? Try doing this at the 1st through 6th grade level. Even the pre-K and Kindergartners have a book of the month to which they are required to respond using art and dictation.

The school motto says it all: “Believe in Yourself, Work Hard, Get Smart.”

There are cracks in the glorious trophy that Solano Elementary, and LAUSD would do well to make sure it preserves and improves such a prize asset.

Since the budget cuts that LAUSD went through, Solano Elementary lost two teaching positions. That forced them to have a Kinder/1st grade and 4th/5th grade combination class. There was even a move to make Principal Hickcox oversee two schools simultaneously, but that idea was fortunately abandoned after pressure from the parents and staff.

So now you’re in the know. There are solutions within LAUSD and though it will not be the answer for everyone, you should do your homework now and see if Solano Elementary meets your needs. With those test scores and zero tuition, it certainly meets mine.

Kid-Friendly Downtown

Downtown resident and mother Susana Benavidez writes weekly articles on living with kids in Downtown Los Angeles.

By Susana Benavidez.

Win Tickets to See Julian Casablancas at the Palace Theatre

Eric Richardson — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:40:38 -0800

Julian Casablancas performs during a November 13 show inside the historic Palace Theatre. Photo by Eric Richardson.

Strokes lead singer Julian Casablancas is bringing a little life back to Downtown's historic Palace Theatre. Casablancas is halfway through a four-week solo residency in the 1911 venue, built to host the Orpheum vaudeville circuit. On Friday, he returns for show number three and we've got a pair of tickets to give to a blogdowntown reader who wants to be there.

The Palace has sat dormant for years, rarely hosting public events like this one. Weeks one and two have shown off both the potential and the challenge of bringing a 1911 building back into regular use.

The venue features one of the largest stages on Broadway, and Casablancas has taken full use of the room with a series of changing visual backdrops. Low lighting on the performance makes clear that the show is about the sound and the projections behind the performers.

Residents of Spring street likely feel like they've been at both shows. Just a thin concrete wall separates the back of the Palace stage from the alley behind, and sound reverberates onto a block that is home to hundreds of residents. That's not that big of a deal for special events, but would need to be addressed before the venue could host a full calendar.

The Delijani family, owners of the Palace and Los Angeles Theatres among others, have pledged to restore both venues if the city constructs a parking garage on Broadway. That may take a few years, but Downtowners should hope these four nights are a sign of many more things to come.

Want to see the show? We've got one pair of tickets to give away. Just leave a comment saying why you should win, and be sure to include contact info (email address or Facebook). Contest closes tonight at 10pm.

Photo Gallery

By Eric Richardson.

Headline: Police Sweep Santee Alley, Making Arrests

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:35:16 -0800

abclocal.go.com -- LA County Sheriffs & LAPD raided Santee Alley today, and plan to reveal the findings of a major counterfeit network operation Thursday