The old Redondo Beach car wash on Torrance Boulevard was finally leveled to the ground last Wednesday in order to make room for a new eco-friendly, hydrogen cell-powered car wash expected to open in March.
The old car wash, originally built in the mid-1960s, has been vacant since closing in 2002. The property has reportedly been a home for transients over the years since it has been vacant. Graffiti encroached on the empty walls and weeds sprouted up in the pavement throughout the property. The building itself was dangerous and many parts of the structure had already crumbled.
Demolition was expected to happen a week ago, but had to be postponed because of a gas-line problem.
The new owners, Ken Crow, Chris McKenna and Mike Wuerth have had their eyes on the lot for more than 15 years. According to McKenna, they plan to invest $1.3 million in the property and have signed a 35-year lease. The old car wash’s 5,500-square-foot site will be downsized to a 3,700-square-foot carwash and will be a “flex-serve” operation, combining express wash services with traditional full-service. McKenna said he feels that is the direction the industry is going.
Brian Perazzolo, the owner of Elite Demolition, watched the building fall over a period of seven hours on Wednesday.
“Its exciting to watch older structures be demolished and new development in the community,” said Perazzolo.
Perazzolo and his crew used an excavator to bring the structure down and 18-wheel semi-trucks to haul away the debris. The asphalt was removed with a dozer. The only problem they encountered during the demolition was taking down the steel posts that held the old lights because they had disintegrated and were no longer grounded. According to Perazzolo, they rocked north and south and workers had to be careful.
“Everyone’s ecstatic to see it go,” said Perazzolo. “I’ve been getting a lot of great feedback from the community and neighboring homes about the structure being demolished.”
