PACOIMA : Vandals Stop Demolition of Gang Haven

The vacant, burned-out and blighted Pacoima Food Market was scheduled for demolition Friday, but the job was rescheduled for next week after vandals punctured the tires of the tractor that was to do the job.

Demolition crews contented themselves with removing rubble and scrap lumber from the first building to be torn down under a financial-assistance program coordinated by the Pacoima Earthquake Recovery Community Center.

The center opened in January, becoming the first of eight such facilities across the city to begin operations. A three-year, $4.2-million federal grant funds the centers, which are aimed at helping quake victims and others become self-sufficient.

The centers also offer special programs to property owners who are unable to afford demolition of buildings that were severely damaged in the January, 1994, Northridge quake. The food market, at Van Nuys Boulevard and Pala Avenue, is among those buildings.

Owner Grace Mendoza could not afford to pay the demolition costs, so she turned to the quake center for assistance, becoming one of the first Pacoima property owners to do so.

Mendoza bought the building in 1958, but later leased it to tenants who she said managed the property poorly, defaulted on rent payments and illegally rented out apartments above the store. Mendoza said it took her years to take back the property.

In the interval, the Northridge quake struck, rendering the building unsafe. The vacant store became a haunt for transients and drug dealers and was torched by arsonists, police said.

“This particular area has a gang problem,” said Sgt. Jim Brady, who supervises senior lead officers at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Division. “It’s a prime location for graffiti and drug dealing. It’s a positive to have this building removed.”

Councilman Richard Alarcon and other officials gathered to witness the demolition on Friday, only to find that the tires on a front-loading tractor parked in a gated lot next to the building had been punctured. Demolition was rescheduled for Monday morning.

Despite the condition of the store, Mendoza will be sad to see the crumbling, two-story building razed. “It’s like a part of you is gone,” she said. Mendoza added that she hasn’t decided yet what she will do with the property.

For information about the Pacoima Earthquake Recovery Community Center, call the center at (800) 339-6993.