The National Guard Armory building has been demolished and a portion of Arcadia Police Department, that recently housed the men's and women's locker rooms, has been demolished to make way for construction of a new $16 million police facility. A ceremonial groundbreaking will take place in the area behind the current police facility at 250 W. Huntington Drive, on September 28.
The parking lot at the Arcadia Community Center will be expanded by including the lot where the Arcadia Historical Museum was formerly located. New electrical equipment will be installed. Total cost will be $104,600.
Arcadia High School graduated 801 students at a ceremony at Santa Anita Park. Speakers included class president Pamela Hun and valedictorian Borna Dabiri. Photos of Rachel Reed and Daisey Tsao are inclcuded.
The Arcadia Beautiful Commission presented its annual awards in a ceremony to honor residential and business owners for outstanding landscaping and overall appearances. Business owners awarded were Union 76, Sav-on Drugs, and the Baldwin Plaza.
Arcadia City Council has gone on record as supporting the building of a new city hall that would be built on the other side of the Civic Center property. Out of three options presented by city manager Bill Kelly, the council consensus was for a new building at a cost of $6.6 million and adjacent to Huntington Drive West.
Elizabeth Cox, Josh Silverman, and Corey Stubbs were honored by Mayor Mickey Segal for saving the life of crossing guard Richard Bauer. The students were making a video about life in Arcadia when he had a heart attack. They called 911.
A new program at Arcadia Methodist Hospital has been implemented to conserve blood and avoid transfusions whenever possible. It is called Bloodless Medicine Center.
Charles Cooper continues his series "Memories of Arcadia" with a story about the Santa Anita Assembly Center for the Japanese, where at its height, it housed more than 18,000 people. Japanese had a long local history, dating back to workers on the Santa Anita Ranch, and local residents had the uncomfortable feeling of seeing friends behind the wire at the track.
The City of Arcadia and Arcadia City Council are working on plans for a new civic center and multipurpose facility that would be located next to City Hall and the newly constructed police station. The project would use money from the capital construction fund and is not part of the city's general fund.
As the United States goes to war with Iraq and the threat of retaliatory terrorist attacks raised the national threat level to High Risk Orange, the cities of Monrovia and Arcadia are prepared for the worst. City officials are talking about emergency response. The city has developed the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), where representatives from all city departments can gather to organize and respond to any emergency.
The Successful Partners Adult Reading Center (SPARC) of Arcadia, has been awarded a $775 grant from the Laubach Literacy National Book Scholarship Fund (NBSF). The grant will be used to purchase New Readers Press books and other educational resources to promote literacy and good reading habits at home.
Groundbreaking for expansion of the Westfield Shoppingtown Santa Anita mall will be held Wednesday, June 4, 2003 at 9:00 AM. The $98 million expansion will include a 16-screen movie theater, Borders Bookstore, Sports Chalet, a new food court, 30 new shops, and two parking structures. The expansion is Phase One of a possible two-part expansion of the mall, which originally opened 29 years ago.
The City of Arcadia and the Arcadia Unified School District, in a joint effort with the Youth Master Plan Committee, kicked off the opening of the first summer youth center.
Arcadia Unified School District and the city are collaborating on a $150,000 effort to open a youth center at the Arcadia High School cafeteria and extend school library hours for after school hours. This would take some afternoon pressure off the Arcadia Public Library.
Arcadia Community Center celebrates 10th anniversary with State Senator Robert Margett, Mayor Mickey Segal and Juventino Gomez from Mike Antonovich's office.
The Arcadia Redevelopment Agency is apparently making some progress in a project to improve the area around the Rusnak Mercedes-Benz dealership. The project, known as the Morlan Place Center, has been the topic of closed-door discussions with property owners around the Huntington Drive site. The city has extended offers to at least two property owners to move to 620 E. Live Oak, so that Morlan Place Center can be developed.
Actor Doris Roberts from TV's "Everybody Loves Raymond" was the keynote speaker at a conference on aging at the Arcadia Community Center. It was sponsored by the Los Angeles Commission for Woman and the County Commission on Aging.