First, a brand-new high school. Now, a new police station.
Change is coming to Boyle Heights, and the neighborhood and police are throwing party to celebrate. Saturday evening, more than 1,000 people are expected to gather for the dedication of the luminous new police station, a $31-million state-of-the-art building at 2111 E. 1st St.
The event will begin at 6 with a series of speakers, including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, several council members and public safety officials. Food samples from local restaurants will be offered, and booths and local entertainment will be featured.
“We want to tell everyone, this is their station and we would love to have everyone come out,” said area Capt. Anita Ortega.
The 54,000-square-foot building replaces two other sites along 1st Street, both which had grown overcrowded and outdated after years of use. During three years of construction, patrol officers, detectives and staff crammed into a 15,000-square-foot site that once was a bank.
The new station will house about 300 personnel serving nearly 200,000 people over a 15.8-mile radius that takes in Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights, El Sereno and other neighborhoods. It includes an airy space with a community room, holding cell, a weight room and plenty of space to grow.
The project comes just a few months before the November opening of the Gold line extension, which also cuts through 1st Street.
After years of construction, Raj Bhakta hopes the upgrades help sales at his nearby drugstore.
“I’m optimistic,” he said. “The area will be safe and the community will feel more comfortable going out.”
Councilman Jose Huizar, who represents the area, sees the change as the start of something bigger, a “rebirth.”
“Boyle Heights is finally getting its just due and not only recognizing its potential, but also realizing it,” he said.
Last month the neighborhood celebrated the opening of the $106-million Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez Learning Center, one of the first new high schools built on the Eastside in many years. The new campus is named after a Latino couple who fought segregation in schools during the 1940s.
The campus brings relief to families that until recently had little choice but to enroll students at Roosevelt High School, an overcrowded campus.
-- Esmeralda Bermudez