Alcohol Treatment Center Upsets Microbrewery Plan

Controversy is bubbling at the old Pacific Telegraph building in downtown Torrance, where tentative plans for a microbrewery may have been dashed, ironically, by an alcohol and drug treatment center that is buying the building.

Merchants had hoped that a microbrewery, planned by an Orange County businessman, would anchor a $44-million downtown development project that began in 1992. But the nonprofit National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence submitted a bid to buy the building first.

Retailers contend that the treatment center doesn’t belong in a business district and that the center would be bad for business. Directors of the treatment and prevention center, which has been located around the corner for nearly 25 years, disagree.

“No one was aware of us,” said Executive Director Betty Batenburg. “That goes to show there were never any problems.”

The Torrance Planning Commission has scheduled a hearing to discuss the issue Wednesday.