Group Lobbies Commission for Police Academy

A group of community leaders who hope to have the new Los Angeles Police Academy built on the former Franciscan ceramics property took their case to the Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday but were unable to win an immediate endorsement of their request.

After listening politely to each of the six supporters who spoke, including a representative of Assemblyman Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles), board members said it would be inappropriate for them to discuss the issue at this point.

However, commission President Jesse Brewer thanked the speakers for their interest and their support.

“It’s refreshing that people want us as neighbors,” Brewer said.

Afterward, the residents said they believe they had furthered their cause.

“Now they are on notice that people are watching the process and interested in the outcome,” said Bill Mabie, an aide to Polanco.

A proposal to build a shopping center on the 45-acre property fell through nearly two years ago after the developer, a subsidiary of Schurgin Development, was forced to spend millions of dollars on toxic cleanup and went into bankruptcy. The Los Angeles Community Development Department has yet to recover $9.5 million that it loaned the developer for the project.

Police officials have said they believe that the Franciscan site is a desirable location for the academy, but that the cost of buying the land might be prohibitive. The site is on Los Feliz Boulevard in Atwater Village, just east of the Golden State Freeway (I-5) near Glendale.

The community leaders argued that the Franciscan site would make sense for the city in spite of its cost.

“It would be a very wise decision,” Red Meade, president of the Atwater Village Chamber of Commerce, told the commissioners. “We want that academy very badly.”

“There has already been a major investment of public dollars in this site,” said Michael Weinstein, head of Neighborhoods for an Atwater Village Police Academy.

Officially, six sites are being considering as potential locations for a new $40-million police training facility, although three of those sites--the former Taylor Railroad Yard and two parcels in Sylmar owned by the Department of Water and Power--have almost been ruled out.

An environmental impact report due out in March will select a preferred location from one of the three remaining sites, which include the Franciscan property, the current academy in Elysian Park and a 24-acre lot next to Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar.

“It appears premature,” said Commissioner Michael Yamaki, after listening to the testimony from the Atwater Village residents. “We should wait for a final report so we can consider all the sites in relationship to each other.”

Meanwhile, a foreclosure auction for the Franciscan property was scheduled for late Wednesday afternoon, but city officials could not bid because the site has not yet been approved for purchase by the City Council.

Last week, Polanco asked the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to postpone the sale for several months until the city completes its environmental review of the project, but his request was denied.

Supporters of the Franciscan site said Tuesday that they planned to attend the sale to warn potential bidders that the city might later take the property through eminent domain.