City Council OKs controversial sports complex
PREV. COVERAGE: The Los Angeles City Council approved a deal that would allow private school Harvard-Westlake, to move forward with plans to demolish Weddington Golf & Tennis facilities in Studio City.
LOS ANGELES – Demonstrators gathered in Studio City Sunday to protest the closure of a local golf and tennis club in order to build a school athletic complex.
The Weddington Golf and Tennis Club sits at the corner of Moorpark Street and Whitsett Avenue. Protesters gathered with signs, with slogans like “Green not Greed.”
The group was led by Kelsey McCallister. McCallister’s grandfather, George McCallister, took over the nine-hole par-27 course back in 1957. Back then it was on a piece of property leased by Fred Weddington. Kelsey McCallister said her grandfather was a golf educator, who created things like old-time flip books to show new golfers how to swing.
SUGGESTED: LA City Council OKs Harvard-Westlake sports complex
“The problem is that the Weddington family sold this property to Harvard-Westlake five years ago, and they plan to completely demolish it to build a huge sports complex,” McCallister said.
Back in November, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to approve the school’s plans to demolish the facility.
In a video statement released by Harvard-Westlake, Terry Barnum, the shool’s head of athletics said, “We understand there are those that have fond memories and feel nostalgic about playing golf at Weddington.”
Barnum described the school’s “River Park Plan,” which “includes a gym, two fields, tennis courts, a pool and park space… all of which will be made available to the public.”
McCallister, however, said she doesn’t believe the school and worries taht when the bulldozers come through, crews will be “leveling the property of 240 mature trees that are only halfway through their life.”
In the school’s video statement, Barnum said they plan to plant more trees.
Stephen White lives in the neighborhood. He says that while he hates golf, he loves the property, and worries the new complex will attract much more traffic.
Rusty Weber is a golfer. To him, “there’s only a certain magic places in the city of Los Angeles. There’s only a handful, and this is one of them.”
The club will halt golf and tennis operations on April 3. On that day, the property will be fenced off and pre-construction activities will begin. Meanwhile, protesters said they’ll be there to hold a vigil for their beloved course.