Giant Ampersand - Washington/Centinela Redevelopment Part 6

It's been almost 5 years since my last post about the corner lots of Washington and Centinela which are supposedly destined for redevelopment. That's because pretty much nothing has happened on those lots - until this past week.

All of the sudden a 8-foot tall white wooden ampersand appeared in the middle of the lot on the north east corner.  I had no idea what it meant, but I was really happy to see it.  To me it meant that someone out there is thinking about this vacant plot of land.

A little Googling produced an answer.  The mysterious ampersand is a public project by Los Angeles-based artist Shannon Ebner.  According to the LAXART web site:

The ampersand is a conjoiner; it signals an incomplete thought and acknowledges that there is more to be said.

This is part of a Shannon Ebner exhibition at the Hammer Museum which started July 16, 2011.  Apparently this isn't the first time she's used an ampersand in her work.  See this photo from a year ago in Milan.

I've been waiting for the redevelopment on this corner to get underway since I moved to this Del Rey neighborhood 11 years ago.  I really hope, as the giant ampersand acknowledges, that there is more to be said...

New Bus Bench and Trash Can on Centinela and Washington

Finally! Culver City has installed a new bus bench and trash can on the northeast corner of Washington Blvd and Centinela Ave. I've been waiting for this for years now. I stand on that corner every morning to catch the #14 Santa Monica Blue Bus northbound which is how I commute to work.

It is so great to have a place to sit while I wait for the bus. It is also great that people can now throw their trash in the can instead of on the sidewalk. I do wish, though, that they also could have installed a roof/overhang (I don't know the proper name for these things) above the bench so that people can sit there without getting drenched when it is raining. Luckily it doesn't rain all that much in LA.

I'm really looking forward to the redevelopment that is supposedly coming soon at this intersection. The plans are highlighted in this edition of the Culver West Neighborhood Association's newsletter.

Washington/Centinela Redevelopment Part 6

A few weeks ago, I saw some people pouring cement in the middle of the lot. I thought that maybe they were finally going to start constructing whatever is going to be built at the corner of Washington and Centinela. The new cement rectangle sat there for a few days and then, to my disappointment, on top of the cement they placed some ugly machinery that was hooked up to a bunch of tubes leading to holes in the ground. Around the cement rectangle, they placed a chain link fence.


I suppose this is all to either measure the levels of chemicals in the ground or to actually clean up whatever is in the ground. I hope this phase doesn't last long since it is ugly and I'm anxious to see what is going to be built on this corner. This neighborhood could really use a nice restaurant, cafe, gym, or bar.

Washington/Centinela Redevelopment Part 5

On Thursday morning, there was some more work being done on the northeast corner of Washington and Centinela. A few guys from Blaine Tech Services were laying out blue pipes and feeding skinny white tubes into holes in the middle of cement squares in the ground.

Blaine Tech Services are groundwater sampling specialists according to their web site.

I don't know where groundwater sampling falls in the process of preparing for construction, but it is good to see some more activity on that corner.

Washington/Centinela Redevelopment Part 4

Not much has happened in the past few months on either vacant corner of Washington Blvd and Centinela Ave. The northwest corner was used as a Christmas tree lot in December, but there has been no visible progress on the construction of new buildings.

Yesterday and today morning, however, I saw some activity. A few men were taking measurements and drilling a big hole in the ground. I did't know what it was for, but the label on their truck read:

Test America
Drilling Corporation
System 4000
Vacmasters
Denver, CO

A little googling turned up some information on Test America and their System 4000 vehicle. Test America does environmental testing. Their Vacmasters System 4000 truck is described as the world's most powerful air-vacuum excavation system. It can be used to locate underground utilities without damaging them.



This all makes sense since this corner is the former site of a gas station. There is probably a lot of environmental testing that needs to happen before anything can be built and existing utility lines need to be located. I hope that this is all a sign that construction won't be too far off in the future. I am tired of looking at a dirt lot on the corner.