Air Patrol Squadron to Get a New Roost

The Civil Air Patrol’s Cadet Squadron No. 107 in Torrance will be getting a new place to roost after being forced from its aerie at the Torrance Airport in March.

City officials and the cadet squadron have signed a lease that will give the squadron a 2 1/2-acre parcel of airport land for $1 a year.

Under the terms of the 20-year lease, the volunteer-run organization has 2 1/2 years to build two new aircraft hangars, plus classroom and meeting facilities, at the site on the airport’s eastern end, said Roger Griffin, an 18-year member and former squadron commander.

The squadron hopes to pay for the facilities, totaling about 6,000 square feet and costing an estimated $100,000, through fund-raising drives and donations, Griffin said.

The organization had its headquarters in buildings and a hangar at the Torrance airport since 1979. But the squadron was forced to leave its 7,000-square-foot facility when city officials decided to tear down the buildings on the site, which faces Crenshaw Boulevard, and replace them with a commercial development, Griffin said.