Double Trouble at Belmont High
By John Millrany - July 31, 2001Even as stressed-out Belmont High School in downtown Los Angeles was struggling through an all-day lockdown because of a shooting incident, the Los Angeles Unified School District was nicked with a $17 million arbitration penalty July 30 for breaching its contract with the developer, contractor and architect for the new Belmont Learning Center.
Mom said there'd be days like this.
The ruling by Superior Court Judge Ann Kough was one more benchmark in a byzantine journey through the courts. Adversaries have labored to address a raft of problems in trying to resolve the unfinished center, the costliest in the US, which has already cost taxpayers over $175 million.
In upholding the arbiter's ruling, Kough said LAUSD waived its right to challenge the award when it agreed to pay the Belmont architect so the district could check his plans in order to expedite acquiring bids to complete the high school, which sits on an environmentally marginal abandoned oil field.
"We are hopeful the district will forgo any further appeals and settle this process once and for all," said Marvin Suomi, president/CEO of Kajima Urban Development, managing member of Temple Beaudry Partners.
The district hasn't said whether it will appeal Monday's court ruling.
Meanwhile, as the district continues to pursue bids to complete the school, or sell it as is, the nearly 3,000 students at the original facility next door were trapped inside-scrounging for food and water and sanitary facilities-after police shuttered the buildings following the shooting of a security guard. Police scoured the campus and neighborhood for the shooter and accomplice who took down 33-year-old school district Officer Conrad Bonilla.
Fortunately, the officer was wearing a protective vest and is expected to fully recover from the chest wound. The assailants were still at large when the lockdown ended about 2 p.m.
Police said the lockdown was necessitated for safety concerns. It lasted approximately six hours, ending about 2 p.m.
School Principal Ignacio Garcia characterized the incident at the year-round school as "truly an aberration." | 
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