County Celebrates Beach Project

Beach Bikepath Dedicated to Late Councilman Marvin Braude

At a beachside ceremony Monday morning, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky celebrated the county’s long-anticipated, $13.6-million renovation of its facilities at Will Rogers State Beach. That ceremony also doubled as the formal dedication of the Marvin Braude Bikeway, named in honor of the late city councilman who spearheaded the 22.3-mile beach bikeway stretching from Pacific Palisades to Torrance. County officials also used the occasion to posthumously honor Will Rogers, whose widow donated the beach property to the state in 1946. His great-granddaughter Jennifer Rogers accepted a plaque presented by the county. “This has been a long time in coming,” Yaroslavsky said. “But I think we can all say it’s worth it. This beach deserves to have the kinds of facilities we have today–first-rate, 21st-century facilities. And I’m particularly proud to dedicate this bikeway to Marvin Braude.” The changes completed at Will Rogers include the upgrading of the L.A. County Lifeguard headquarters at Potrero Canyon, reconstruction of a lifeguard substation, four mission-style restrooms and the main entrance at Temescal Canyon Road, and regrading and repaving of the county’s four parking lots that run along Pacific Coast Highway from Entrada Drive to the Bel-Air Bay Club. Also, all facilities were reconfigured to be disability-accessible. At the ceremony, county officials offered praise for the project and each other. “This project is a winner for public safety,” said Mike Frazer, chief lifeguard of the county’s Fire Department. “We will be able to make rescues quicker [because of the improvements].” L.A. City Councilman Bill Rosendahl was one of many who praised Braude, who represented the Palisades and the Westside for 32 years on the City Council. The daughters of the former councilman also spoke. Not mentioned at the ceremony was the still-incomplete 50-car county lot east of Castellammare Drive. County officials say that construction there has been slowed by a series of causes, including a higher-than-expected water table. They expect the lot to be complete by the end of July. Also, the rebuilt concession stand is not yet open, pending the delivery of kitchen equipment, Project Manager Mike Patel told the Palisadian-Post. A spokesperson for the county said the concession stand would not be operational until after Labor Day. In January 1999, the county Board of Supervisors hired Gruen Associates to design the refurbishment of the beach. But construction did not begin until December 2005, blocking public access to large swaths of Will Rogers’ 2,000-car main lot at Temescal until early last month. The county originally estimated that the project would cost $6.5 million. But the costs of the project have more than doubled, owing to a series of factors: By the time the construction contract was awarded in November 2005 to Gonzales Construction, Inc., a global construction boom put raw materials and construction companies in short supply. In fact, only two companies submitted bids for the Will Rogers project. That lack of competition meant substantially higher costs. County planners failed to identify a city-owned sewer-force main in the eastern half of the main lot. And that error had large reverberations, both in meeting deadlines and budgets. Construction was halted for four months while the city and county negotiated a solution to reinforce the sewer. County officials told the Post in November that protecting the sewer would cost less than $200,000. But when construction was supposed to resume in late September last year, it moved slowly–and sometimes not at all. Local residents expressed their frustrations at a Palisades Community Council meeting last fall, complaining that workers were rarely seen and that there were few noticeable signs of progress. They feared that the consequence would mean the county would miss its May deadline, limiting public access to the beach for a second summer. When the county missed its deadline in January for completion of the lifeguard headquarters and the main lot’s eastern half, some residents considered summer-long construction a foregone conclusion. County records from that time blame “inclement weather” and the heavy use of “poor subcontractors” by Gonzales Construction for many of the delays and non-compliant construction. But in mid-spring, local residents and critics of the project saw a flurry of construction activity that nearly propelled the project to meet its final deadline. Comments made by top county officials during the ceremony Monday hinted at the political intervention behind the project’s fast construction. “We ran into a lot of problems,” said Don Wolfe, director of the county’s Department of Public Works, which oversaw construction at Will Rogers. “In mid-April, I got a call on the weekend from Supervisor Yaroslavsky–which has only happened maybe one other time–asking if this project was going to get done before he retired.” Yaroslavsky declined to elaborate on what he did to fast-track construction when asked by the Post. Speaking after the ceremony, Wolfe said that Public Works negotiated with Gonzales Construction, pushing the company to hire additional workers to meet the deadline. The company was hesitant to do that because the county offered to pay no additional costs, he said. As an act of “goodwill,” the company eventually complied, said Wolfe. According to county records from the end of May, funds allocated toward construction alone rose more than $500,000. Combined with other costs, the total cost for the project rose more than $ 1 million this year to $13,617,000. Although appreciative of restored access to the beach, local residents’ feelings of the project is mixed. Palisades resident Stuart Muller, who kept a watchful eye on construction, remained highly skeptical of county assurances right up until Memorial Day. “It’s still a little rough around the edges,” said Muller, a Community Council member, “But it looks pretty good for a beach and bathroom project.” Other residents–Muller included–fear that the last-minute dash to completion has meant sacrificing quality. “Now that it’s open, I don’t think much of it,” said Brentwood resident Jeff Mack. “That kind of fake Roman pillar gazebo [next to concession stand] doesn’t provide much shade. It looks like an afterthought. That lattice work with those poorly constructed columns are already beginning to crack. My overall take is I’m under-whelmed by a project that ran considerably overtime.” County Building Inspector Mike Watkins cited the company several times for construction that was not compliant with county and state building codes. But he said the company did a “good job of fixing things.” —– To contact Staff Writer Max Taves, e-mail reporter@palipost.com or call ext. 28.