Troubling Element Number Eight
Harvard Westlake’s Application for Their Sports Campus
This is the eighth in our ongoing weekly series of News & Notes that explores key parts of the Harvard Westlake Sports Campus Application at the Weddington Golf & Tennis location.
OLYMPIC POOL
Harvard-Westlake intends to build a 50-meter Olympic-sized pool together with locker rooms, restrooms, changing rooms, and l1-meter and 3-meter diving boards. Plus 348 permanent seats in the bleachers for spectators, in addition to all the other stadium seating at the multiple sports complexes, all part of their planned sports campus at the Weddington site. In presenting the plans for the project to a neighborhood group, Ari Engelberg, speaking for the school, was quoted in the Daily News. July 16, 2019. “The plan is to have competitions at that site but it won’t be our primary athletic site,”’ implying it would not be disruptive to the community. However, Harvard Westlake, in its Application to the city, specifically states they intend to hold special events outside of the regular hours of operation.
HW’s campus on Coldwater Canyon already has a 50-meter Olympic-sized pool, which opened in late 2012. Why do they need another one, and why an entire swimming complex?
The Los Angeles Swim Club, who use the Olympic pool facility on Coldwater campus, makes it clear HW already has an amazing pool facility for its students: “….it is a world-class pool modeled after the 2012 London Olympic pool. The Facility is a 50 meter by 25-yard pool with all the latest amenities for world-class competition and training.”
Most high schools, public recreation centers, universities, and YMCAs have 25-yard pools. The Coldwater campus has under 900 students, smaller than most public high schools, so why a second 50-meter Olympic-sized pool?
* The above is based on the initial Application filed with the Department of City Planning by Harvard Westlake and other print news sources. We will keep you updated as the process moves forward.
We welcome your comments and encourage you to do what you can. Forward this email to your friends and neighbors. Should you have any questions, please email us at SaveOpenSpace2020@gmail.com and we will respond to you.
If you have missed any of these weekly emails, you can find our series of emails on our website, www.StudioCityResidents.org.
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Volunteers Welcomed!
The Harvard Westlake Sports Campus has the potential of disrupting the residential area around it and impacting already notorious traffic patterns. Save LA River and the Studio City Residents Association are seeking the best result possible and, we are looking for volunteers for specific areas:
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- Use your contact list to notify your neighbors
- Help put out lawn signs / distribute flyers
- Create graphics for flyers
- Expertise in technology
- AND any other talent that you can bring to the table
For information and updates visit www.savelariveropenspace.org
Next week: ATHLETIC FIELDS