UNIVERSITY NEWS | Loyola Marymount University has revised its proposal to amend the LMU Master Plan, reducing the scope of the application in response to community feedback after an extensive, yearlong outreach effort that included meetings with neighbors, homeowners’ associations, council meetings, open forums, and engagements.
“In response to the thoughtful requests of our neighbors seeking specificity, we more narrowly defined our amendment to address community concerns as we continue to demonstrate our commitment through active, transparent engagement so we can move forward together,” said John Kiralla, senior vice president for Marketing, Communications, and External Relations.
The proposal, currently advancing through the city planning process, would allow LMU to transfer a modest number of square feet from the administrative/academic and residential categories to the athletics category so that the university could keep, not demolish, Gersten Pavilion after the new athletics arena is built. Gersten would be repurposed with an expanded academic resource center for student-athletes, a practice and training area, and for coaches’ offices. The new arena, which was approved in the 2011 Master Plan, would host games and competitions currently scheduled in Gersten. The new arena will be developed and constructed with private support, which is anticipated as several years in the future.
The revised amendment will not increase the university’s enrollment caps nor the square footage already approved in the current Master Plan. Also, the number of teams, student- athletes, and competitions will not increase as a result of the changes; the university seeks to improve the infrastructure that serves our existing student-athletes. “This amendment allows us to reimagine LMU’s Athletics facilities and reposition our student-athletes and programs to compete with our Division I peer institutions,” said Athletic Director Craig Pintens.
The proposal would not jeopardize any academic or residential plans. The original square footage numbers from the 2011 Master Plan were estimates. The changes are de minimis in overall square footage allocations and would have no impact in the university’s building plans. The university has also accounted for all buildings included in the comprehensive fundraising campaign — and even additional buildings not yet imagined. Yet, with everything totaled there is still additional square footage in the administrative/academic and residential categories after the proposed change.
The LMU Master Plan is a set of ordinances approved by the city of Los Angeles in 2011, outlining limits and requirements on how the university’s Westchester campus can grow and develop. The application to amend the Master Plan was submitted last summer, after which LMU officials began ongoing community outreach and engagement efforts. The feedback from that process led the university to refine its original application, which has been cut back to more specifically outline the square footage LMU needs to make the Athletics improvements to Gersten, aimed at improving the student experience. The revised approach does not anticipate increased traffic, external events, or parking needs.
A new working group of the Neighborhood Advisory Council has been created, comprised of LMU faculty, staff, and neighbors who live within two blocks of the campus’s southern borders. The group will meet on an ongoing basis, discuss the new development, and provide the university and Westchester neighborhood a venue for constructive dialogue.
LMU will present the revised amendment to the Planning and Land Use Committee of the Westchester-Playa Neighborhood Council, Oct. 20, at 6:30 p.m. More information about the meeting is available here.
