If Not a Football Stadium, Warehouses for Grand Crossing

Today, Weeks Roses went on the auction block. So say reliable sources of the esteemed wholesale grower with its hybridizing operation at the Cal Poly Greenhouses. To everyone who has ever dedicated their working life to make the world more beautiful, I dedicate this post to you.

In 1996, the former fighter pilot, John Semcken III took on primary responsibility for identifying, analyzing and negotiation a site for a sports and entertainment complex to house Los Angeles’s professional sports teams. This intimate involvement with the creation of the Staples Center means he knows that of which he speaks.

In a candid conversation with Mr. Semcken this afternoon, the vice president of Majestic Realty was asked if the land the project is proposed to sit on does not become a stadium, will it be allowed to lay fallow waiting for the economy to improve. A quick chuckle was followed by a swift reply, quite to the point, “I don’t think so.”  If it were not for the stadium option being a real contender, “ground would have already broken.” on the entitled alternative.

My experience with former military is that while tact may not be a strength, honesty is. What the two projects represent are stand alone, competing visions with incompatible land use elements. It will be one or the other. Neither is not an option.

Setting aside the value to the company, the value of $762 million a year in economic activity is significant. 12,000 construction jobs lead the economic stimulus, followed by an anticipated $323 million in salaries divided by 6,735 full-time jobs are estimated to follow. 

Comparing the Grand Crossing stadium's projected impact to the already entitled project with industrial components, the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) concluded that the NFL-inclusive project would generate 71,000 less car trips per week. The maximum number of days for the intense use of the stadium  is 45.

My vision of reality is I would rather be impacted on 45 days than during all 52 weeks of the year. 

A councilperson’s reality is not just the physical impact on the community, but as fiduciaries, on the financial impact in revenues generated on behalf of the community. Other writers have thoroughly gone over this. Some people will never believe that anything other than bad happens from change. I am not one of those.

I believe change can be good when care is shown in implementation. In giving up what has been a long-standing view of bucolic paradise, it is my strong desire that a new way is found to express our heritage. 

We have a rich history of agricultural activity in the San Gabriel Valley. My vision, not just on this project, goes beyond the architecture and activities. What I dream of is greater celebration of our climate through horticulture (plantings) and public art.

There are many visions of paradise. But don’t all have gardens?