South Bay : WRECK AND RENEWAL
The walls will come tumbling down next week at Torrance’s Columbia School, and school officials and firefighters couldn’t be happier.
The elementary school has sat vacant for seven years, a victim of plummeting enrollment. The Torrance Unified School District planned to sell the site, as it had nine other schools. But residents strenuously objected, calling instead for a lease deal that would yield money for schools.
“It’s one of those black holes between development, disrepair and disuse,” said Bob Gebel, assistant city fire marshal.
The homeless began frequenting the site, apparently lighting fires for warmth. Firefighters have doused half a dozen blazes there in the past three years.
But things are looking up. The wrecking ball is due within days at the site near Hawthorne Boulevard to clear it for a 195-unit seniors housing complex. The developer will lease the land for 55 years or longer, paying the district $200,000 a year plus a percentage of the profits.
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