Hermosa Beach news briefs: street upgrades, Green Idea House, Skate for Schools, Five-o Center
Upgrades discussed: The Hermosa Beach City Council has called for a town hall meeting to discuss possible improvements to the Pacific Coast Highway and Aviation Boulevard commercial corridors.
Recommendations for medians, trees and an archway marking entrance to the city, possibly at three locations, were made by the aesthetics subcommittee of the council-appointed PCH-Aviation Improvement Committee.
Officials said a town hall will be scheduled on a Saturday to seek public input.
Mayor Peter Tucker praised the work of the committee, chaired by former Councilman George Barks.
The subcommittee’s recommendations also include new street signs and street furniture.
Businesspeople along PCH and Aviation have long complained that City Hall has neglected their busy corridors while building the Pier Plaza and remaking upper Pier Avenue.
Green destruction
Hermosan Robert Fortunato told the City Council that his family diverted from landfills 97.5 percent of the detritus from the teardown of their Prospect Avenue house. The family’s rebuilt “Green Idea House” will be designed to produce more energy than it uses.
Fortunato told the council that materials from the teardown of the old house were recycled or reused.
Succulent plants were replanted at homes and on the city greenbelt. Stones were used to line a water reclamation system, and pea gravel from the old home’s flat roof was used in the water system as well.
School skate
Nine-year-old competitive skateboarder Sebastian Kuhr will hold his fifth annual “Skate for the Schools” fundraiser 3:30 p.m. Thursday, April 28 at the Hermosa Beach Skate Park, on the corner of Pier and Ardmore avenues.
This year’s event features skateboarding sponsors and giveaways by Spyder Surfboards. The park will remain open to the public, and other members of the Spyder skate team will offer tips and show off their own tricks.
Kuhr, a fourth grader at Hermosa Valley School, has raised thousands of dollars for local education. He has been skating competitively since he was 6, and last year finished third in the California State Games.
411 on the 5-0
The Hermosa Five-0 Senior Activity Center celebrates its one-year anniversary with an open house 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, May 5 with light refreshments, door prizes and a luau theme. Hawaiian attire is encouraged. The Five-0 is located at the Hermosa Beach Community Center, 710 Pier Ave. for more info call 310-318-0280. ER