Page 2 April 3, 2014 TORRANCE TRIBUNE Toyota Sports Complex Opening Business Briefs Network at Noon The Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce had their monthly “Networking At Noon” event at the newly opened INDUSTRY SPORTS BAR & GRILL, located at 22735 Hawthorne Blvd. A Collaborative Effort by the Rotarians of Torrance In the beautiful Kimono Room of The Depot restaurant, all four Rotary Clubs (Torrance Rotary, Rotary Club of Lomita-Torrance Airport, South Bay Sunrise Rotary and Del Amo Rotary) joined together to donate money they collected from their 5th Annual USC/ UCLA Tailgate Event. The event now draws 350 people, and the money goes to all four Torrance Unified School District high Schools (Torrance High, South High, West High and North High). This year, they added Redondo Union High School to the mix and each school School Board from front page are some minor finishing touches. Likewise, Madrona is nearly just as far along, with Westberg saying the completion date of the project was the same day as the meeting, March 31. Just like with Hickory, a rededication ceremony was set for April 3. Westberg said he was very proud of the improvements that have been made to the school. “Everything is good,” said Westberg. “I just drove past Madrona and I’m just so pleased. The front entrance looks so much better than it did before.” After the ceremony has completed, the only work left to do on the projects will be to conduct a job walk to make sure the work is up to District standards and to get final approval from the Department of the State Architect. From there Westberg moved on to North High School, which he said was about 75 percent complete. The to-be-completed features on the campus include finishing inspections on the elevators in the G and W buildings, installing new roofing, and changing the asphalt and concrete design to accommodate the site’s expanding soil challenges. Superintendent George Mannon said he believes the changes to how the asphalt, concrete and soil all interact will make the school more sound. “When you walk on that now, it’s all been replaced,” said Mannon. “I feel much better about it now.” Westberg said construction on North High is expected to conclude by February of next year. Finally, as for Torrance High School, Westberg said crews have nearly completed restoring the senior patio, which is a historical site in the city and must be upgraded methodically and be accurate with the original construction plans. Board member Terry Ragins said the patio shows that it has seen restoration work. “It looks really nice,” said Ragins. “They [the seniors] are really excited to use it whenever they can.” The patio has made cameos in a number of films and television shows, including serving as the high school hangout spot for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the lead character in the Joss Whedon ‘90s horror drama. The re-opening of the patio event will be a joint effort of the District and the Torrance Historical Society, which Mannon said was very helpful in seeing the project to completion. The rest of Torrance High has already started the modernization process, but the Board is fearful of contractors finding the District’s oldest high school has some buried--and costly--secrets in its walls. Westberg said that these kinds of discoveries are almost guaranteed, although there is no way of knowing how much they will add to the costs of modernization. “We can expect quite a bit of discoveries when we get into the walls,” said Westberg. Mannon said he was glad to have the construction firms guiding the District through the process of modernization. “We have six schools under construction at the same time,” he said. “It’s quite a handful.” E-mail: dylantlittle@gmail.com • Photos & Story by Charlene Nishimura The grand opening ceremony of the Toyota Sports Complex was held on March 26 and hundreds of sports enthusiasts along with city and county representatives and the Parks and Recreation Commission were present to cut the opening ribbon to this $3.2 million facility, located on Maple Avenue next to the Torrance courthouse. The ceremony included the posting of the colors by the Torrance Police Department Honor Guard and Boy Scout Troop #658 and Soloist Laura Savitz sang the National Anthem. Community Services Director John Jones welcomed the large crowd and congratulatory speeches were made by several dignitaries including Mayor Frank Scotto. Guests were also treated to a Youth Soccer Exhibition & Futbolero Demonstration as well as Youth Soccer & Lacrosse Exhibition. • received a check for $1,900 at the luncheon. I asked Carl Kaemerle, member of the Del Amo Rotary, if there was something the schools had to do to receive the money and he said, “The only criteria is, you have to come to the luncheon!” What a deal! Thank you, Rotarians of Torrance! • Pictured (L to R) are General Manager Paul Davis, Efrain Santiago, Robin Ann Demore, Alan Wise, Julio Rivas, Matthew Jacques and Antonio Aguirre. Photo by Charlene Nishimura. North High School Athletic Director Brian Ormsby receiving his check from South Bay Sunrise Club President Todd Cruser with Pam Metz, Principal of North High School looking on. Photo by TerriAnn Ferren. All four TUSD HighSchools represented. Photo by TerriAnn Ferren.
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