Police, Fire Stations Proposed for Former GM Site

PANORAMA CITY —  Los Angeles city officials unveiled a proposal Monday to build a $10-million public safety complex for police and fire services on five acres of the former General Motors property, a step toward revival of what had become a lingering sign of decay in the east San Fernando Valley.

The new safety complex will be built by private developers and leased to the city under the plan, said Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon, who represents the neighborhood.

The new safety complex is proposed for a neighborhood near Van Nuys Boulevard and Blythe Street, long troubled by gangs and crime. In addition to the police and fire stations, the complex would also house a community center.

The deal, which would cost the city $250,000 a year in rent for 30 years, must be approved by the City Council.

Alarcon said the new complex “is part of the effort to clean up not only Blythe Street, but the entire Van Nuys corridor.”

The new police station, which Alarcon predicted could be open in two years, is also expected to relieve overcrowding at the Van Nuys station, home to more than 1,000 officers. The Van Nuys station garage is so crowded with patrol cars that officers are delayed trying to drive out of the structure.

Under the building proposal, nearly 200 officers from the Valley Traffic Division would move to the new facility from the Van Nuys police station. Eventually, the GM site could also house a second Valley Bureau command if Chief Bernard C. Parks decides to split the Valley into separate regional divisions.

Parks joined Alarcon at a press conference outside the Valley Bureau headquarters for the announcement, saying the new station would be “a great benefit” to the LAPD.

Under the plan, the proposed new fire station will help serve the area currently covered by station 81 in the northeast Valley, which fire officials say has one of the Valley’s heaviest workloads.

Los Angeles Fire Chief William Bamattre, who also attended the press conference, said the new station could be used as a staging area for strike teams during Santa Ana wind conditions when fire danger is particularly high.

Alarcon said private developers Robert Voit and Dan Selleck, who are building a $100-million retail and manufacturing complex at the GM site, have agreed to secure financing for the police and fire stations.

The city would take ownership of the complex, under the current agreement, at the end of its 30-year lease.

GM closed the plant in 1992, and later donated the five-acre parcel to the city.

“When the GM plant closed, they were taking the heart of the San Fernando Valley’s manufacturing out of the San Fernando Valley,” said Alarcon, who approached GM for the donation.

“GM was very willing,” he said.

Alarcon said he is confident the proposal will be approved by his council colleagues.

“We have a very firm proposal on how the facility can be built,” Alarcon said. “I believe there is a strong consensus to support this.”