VAN NUYS : Help Sought to Clean Abandoned Motel

Van Nuys residents who once complained about prostitutes and drug dealing at the Chateau Motel will join together this weekend to spruce up the abandoned inn and turn it into a positive force in the community.

The old motel is being transformed into a new one that will be used to train the disabled for careers in the hospitality industry.

Nearly 15 trainees will serve as maids, desk clerks and maintenance workers at the inn, located in the 6700 block of Sepulveda Boulevard. Counselors who provide the free training will also work at the motel.

The cleanup follows years of heated controversy over the 46-unit motel, which was branded a magnet for petty crime by the city earlier this year. The former owners closed the motel in April.

The empty building has now been leased to Asian Pacific Community Services, a nonprofit group headquartered in Westminster. The agency has operated other businesses to train and place more than 3,000 disabled individuals in jobs since 1982.

Dennis Catron, board president of Asian Pacific Community Services, said his agency will follow the conditions placed on the Chateau Motel by the city, including hiring a security guard, adding security cameras and improving lighting.

The agency has also formed a Community Advisory Committee to address neighborhood needs and crime reduction.

Catron said it will take at least two months and $50,000 to rehabilitate the property. The costs include replacing stolen televisions and air conditioners, converting a fire-damaged room into a storage shed and clearing the weed-covered entrance.

“We need to bring the community out,” said Mary Lou Holte, founder of the community’s local Townkeeper’s Action Group. “Now that the worst is over, we can see a turn-around of the boulevard and this is a good example. When you join forces, you succeed.”

The cleanup and yard sale will be held Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents are asked to bring their own shovels and gloves to help clean up and pull weeds. For more information, contact the Townkeeper’s Action Group, (818) 901-8342.