Proposal for Former Cannery Rejected by Harbor Director

Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Ezunial Burts bluntly advised Wilmington residents this week to drop their plans for converting the old Heinz pet food cannery into a waterfront commercial and recreational development.

In a forceful statement to the Wilmington Community Advisory Committee, Burts said continued pursuit of the cannery project might jeopardize the port’s support of a hoped-for development at the foot of Avalon Boulevard.

Both projects have been proposed as part of plans to revitalize Wilmington’s industrial waterfront into a commercial and recreational showpiece overlooking the Harbor.

“If we continue to pursue (the cannery), we will end up with nothing but a lot of paper,” Burts said Tuesday. He described efforts to secure historical status for the cannery as “chasing rabbits down rabbit holes.”

Burts said asbestos had been discovered in the building and that its age also makes the structure unsafe. He noted that consultants said last year that such a project would be economically infeasible.

He also reiterated the port’s determination to raze the building to make way for an equipment storage yard.

The advisory committee, which was appointed by the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners to help draft revitalization plans for the waterfront, has long pushed to include the cannery in the study area. The port owns all the land under consideration and the projects depend on the port’s willingness to donate the sites for development.

Committee members appeared taken aback by Burts’ remarks, but offered little comment at the meeting. Many said later they expected Burts to offer a trade-off, such as a promise of more support from the Harbor Commission for the Avalon Boulevard project, in return for dropping the cannery proposal.

“He came on like gangbusters and told us we are not going to get it. I thought he was going to offer us something concrete in return, but he (just) let the air out of the balloon,” said Gertrude Schwab, secretary of the panel.

Wilmington residents and City Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores have been pushing to declare the building a city historical landmark, which could protect it from being demolished. That proposal is set to come before the full City Council on May 8.

However, on Tuesday Flores appeared to back away from her previous support of the plan to remodel the cannery into a retail and restaurant complex.

“It was bad news when we recently found there was asbestos in the building,” Flores said. “And the consultants suggest such a project would not probably be commercially feasible. We will get more sooner if we try to work with the Harbor Department and back off the cannery.”

Five conceptual sketches for the Avalon Boulevard project developed by RTKL Associates Inc. of Baltimore were on display at the meeting and will be formally discussed in May. The consulting firm was hired by the Harbor Commission last year to conduct a $172,000 study of how to convert the area into a commercial and recreational center.

Two of the sketches propose leaving intact an existing rail and street corridor that runs along Alameda Street connecting shipping yards to city streets, splitting a proposed building and park into two segments. Under those plans, a bridge would link the two sides of the building. Two other sketches show the Alameda corridor rerouted to the west along Fries Avenue. A fifth sketch details a “seed project” in a small waterfront area south of the corridor that would include a park and a small building.

The cannery site was left blank in the drawings, which outline such possibilities as an oceanfront aquarium, an observation tower, parks and a restaurant and retail complex.

Burts encouraged the committee to forge ahead on the seed project, saying the panel should “get something going while a window of opportunity exists.” Burts said the port will not have definite plans for the Alameda corridor, a crucial link to the shipping yards, for at least a year and a half.

But committee members balked at making choices while the fate of the corridor is still in question.

“That seems like putting the cart before the horse to me,” said committee Vice President Simie Seaman.

Once the advisory panel has made recommendations on a project, the plans will go to the Board of Harbor Commissioners for revision and approval. The board will have the final say on any proposal.