Security Concerns Shift AIDS Walk

The 17th annual AIDS Walk Los Angeles, which has previously started and ended at Paramount Pictures, has been moved to the Pacific Design Center because of security concerns following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, officials announced Wednesday.

The Oct. 21 event was moved because of the heightened security at Southern California movie studios, said Craig E. Thompson, executive director of AIDS Project Los Angeles. Security guards are checking under cars that enter the studio, Thompson said, and examining picture identification of everyone entering the lot.

“The pure logistics wouldn’t work,” Thompson said. “We expect 27,000 people to participate, and how could we do 27,000 security checks?”

The walk will begin and end at the Pacific Design Center--at 700 San Vicente Blvd.--which will not present security problems, Thompson said.

San Vicente Boulevard, between Melrose Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard, will be closed. That area, and the public spaces at the center, will give the participants plenty of room to congregate, Thompson said.

Those who take part in the 10K (6.2-mile) walk will start at the center, walk east on Santa Monica Boulevard south on La Cienega Boulevard, east on Melrose Avenue, north on Fairfax Avenue, west on Sunset Boulevard, south on Doheny Drive, then east on Santa Monica and back to the design center.

When it began in 1985, AIDS Walk Los Angeles attracted 4,500 participants.

Over the years, the walk has evolved into an annual event for thousands of people to unite in the fight against HIV or to remember a loved one who died of AIDS.

Last year almost 28,000 people participated.