Armory Won’t Harm Basin, Engineers Say

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has determined that construction of a new California Army National Guard armory at Sepulveda Basin will not adversely affect the environment.

The corps released the findings in its final environmental assessment report, Herb Nesmith, a corps public affairs officer, said Wednesday.

Corps engineers conducted a biological survey of the 2-acre lot where the facility is to be located, Nesmith said, and found that it would not threaten sensitive plant, wildlife or waterfowl species in the recreation area situated in the northwest corner of Sepulveda Basin near Victory Boulevard.

Copies of the environmental study are available for review at public libraries at 6250 Sylmar Ave., Van Nuys, and 14245 Moorpark St., Sherman Oaks, Nesmith said. A public comment period regarding the report runs from today until Nov. 23.

A new two-story, 53,000-square-foot facility will replace the old armory that was damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

“The building that had been there was at the end of its life span,” Capt. John Nilsson, project manager for the Army National Guard, said Wednesday.

“It sustained serious structural damage in the earthquake. . . . It was not economically feasible to repair it, but better to raze it and build another building.”

The new armory, which is in its final design phase, will look more like a modern office building and less like a fortress, Nilsson said.

“We used to build buildings that looked like ugly boxes,” he said. “We’ve made every effort to make this building attractive and in keeping with area architecture.”

The armory will serve as a personnel training facility and military vehicle depot for the 40th Infantry Division of the Army National Guard, Nilsson said.