To Expand Playground : Schools OK Purchase of 8 N. Hollywood Houses

A Los Angeles Board of Education committee Thursday endorsed a disputed proposal to buy and raze eight North Hollywood homes in order to expand the playground of a crowded school nearby.

The controversy centers on Victory Boulevard School, which because of crowding operates on a year-round schedule and has closed its doors to all new pupils.

Built to accommodate 903 students, Victory’s student population is now 1,122. To handle the overflow, bungalows have been placed on the playground, leaving less than an acre of play space.

The district has proposed to buy eight Gentry Avenue homes, which would provide more than three acres of play area.

Board members Jackie Goldberg and Larry Gonzalez said during Thursday’s building committee hearing that they support a plan to use nearly $1.3 million to buy the eight homes.

Roberta Weintraub, the third member of the committee, whose East Valley district includes North Hollywood, said she supported an alternative $3-million plan to buy not only the eight Gentry Avenue homes but eight others on Ben Avenue so that the playground would not abut the houses.

Complaints Heard

For almost a year, neighbors of the school have complained that the school board has not considered alternatives to the plan to tear down their homes for the playground expansion.

The board was originally scheduled to vote on the acquisition last spring, but delayed so that alternative plans could be investigated. Two alternatives were: to change Victory’s boundaries so some students would attend other schools, or to build a new school on city-owned parkland at Victory Plaza Park.

But, after the committee reviewed the options Thursday, it supported the original proposal to buy just eight homes.

The entire board is scheduled to take a final vote on the issue July 28.