The long unused train bridge over Colorado Blvd west of Santa Anita Avenue will be demolished and removed sometime in March or April, according to Gold Line Foothill Extension officials.

That will be just a few months before the new “iconic” bridge over the 210 freeway is completed this summer, Foothill Extension Authority public affairs director Lisa Levy Buch told the group of community leaders gathered Thursday, Feb. 2, at the monthly Arcadia Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Forum.
Since that bridge will once again bring train tracks over the freeway and into Arcadia, that means that a new bridge will need to be built to carry the Gold Line train over Colorado Blvd again when the line opens in 2015.
The County was originally prepared to retrofit the Colorado bridge to make it earthquake-safe until Gold Line officials alerted the County that their money would be wasted on a bridge that was about to be torn down.

A third bridge in Arcadia must then be built to carry the tracks over Santa Anita Avenue near Fasching’s Car Wash.

Buch also revealed for the first time that a decision was recently made to build the 11.5-mile extension in reverse order from the end of the route in Asuza west to the current end of the line at the Sierra Villa station in Pasadena just west of Arcadia.

Work on the iconic bridge over the 210 will begin a series of as many as 20 consecutive late-night full closures of all eastbound lanes between Baldwin and Santa Anita Avenues weekdays from midnight to 5 a.m. that will continue through February and possibly into March. A lengthy temporary support structure, known as falsework, will be erected to create a secure work space over the lanes of the freeway for the entire span of the future 584-foot bridge crossing the freeway at a skewed angle. The falsework structure will create a temporary tunnel-like effect temporarily, as shown in the artist rendering at right.
On nights of full closures, eastbound on-ramps at Rosemead Blvd., Michillinda Ave. and Baldwin Ave. will close at approximately 9:00 p.m., lane closures will begin at approximately 10 p.m. and all lanes will re-open by 6 a.m. the following day.

Meanwhile, legislative groundwork is being laid to extend the Gold Line from Azusa beyond the L.A. County border to Montclair, with an eventual target destination of the L.A. Ontario Airport.

Further details about all the planned construction through Arcadia will be presented by the Foothill Extension Authority and Arcadia City officials at the Chamber’s annual Planning Conference from 8 a.m. – 12 noon on Thursday, Feb. 23 in the Director’s Room of the Santa Anita Park race track.

The Planning Conference, featuring a breakfast buffet, is open to all Chamber members and costs $25 per person. RSVP is required; call the Chamber at 626-447-2159.
Retiring City manager Don Penman will present his final State of the City address at the conference, among several other planned presentations.

– By Scott Hettrick

NAI Capital senior vice presidents Marie Taylor and Dan Bacani have been named 2011 NAI Capital Club silver level honorees.

Marie Taylor

The commercial real estate brokers, based in Pasadena, with many clients and properties in Arcadia, were selected for their winning attitude, extraordinary performance, their client dedication and their determination, according to NAI.
The company says Taylor and Bacani have demonstrated these qualities throughout the year, providing superior client service and results.

NAI Capital, a diversified full-service commercial brokerage with 14 offices and more than 250 brokers in Southern California, offers the leasing of office, industrial and retail property, as well as the selling of office, industrial, retail, residential income property and undeveloped land.

Dan Bacani

The pair represent several property owners and businesses in Arcadia. In 2011, they were retained by Matt Denny’s Ale House Restaurant as a consultant on their lease renewal, and are the exclusive leasing representatives for Dave Scheidler of DPS Software for their building at 41 E. Foothill Blvd. They are currently the exclusive leasing agents for Gentile McCloskey & Company.

Taylor, LEED AP, and Bacani obtained the status of Capital Club Silver level for their outstanding level of production in 2011 where they ranked #1 and #3 respectively in the Pasadena office of NAI Capital Commercial Real Estate. In spite of the challenging market and in many ways because of it, Taylor and Bacani continue to be expert marketers of retail, industrial and office properties in Arcadia as well as a relentless advocates for their clients.
Taylor was also active all year in support of the start-up Arcadia Downtown Business Association.

– By Scott Hettrick

A special program tied to an exhibition of one of Major League Baseball’s biggest personalities, Bill Veeck, is scheduled for May 19 at the Arcadia Public Library, along with an author of a book about Veeck and a screening of the 30-minute movie “Veeck: A Man for Any Season.”

“VeeckFest” will feature Terry Cannon of the Pasadena-based nonprofit Baseball Reliquary introducing Paul Dickson, the author of a book being published in April, Bill Veeck: Baseball’s Greatest Maverick. Dickson will speak from 1 p.m. – 1:30 p.m., followed by a panel hosted by Dickson from 1:30 p.m. – 3 p.m. , including sports writers John Schulian, Ron Rapoport, and Ken Solarz.

The DVD film screening, including excerpts of sound home movie footage of the Veeck from 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. will be followed by a book signing from 4 p.m. – 5 p.m.

The Veeck exhibition will run at the Library from April 9-May 24.

Veeck was one of the most influential baseball men of the 20th century, a legendary promoter and civil rights figure who is noted as the owner who brought the midget Eddie Gaedel to the plate as a pinch-hitter in 1951 for the St. Louis Browns and who signed Larry Doby to a contract with the Cleveland Indians in 1947 as the first African-American to play in the American League.
The exhibition will cover the entire life and times of Veeck through photographs, documents, artworks, and artifacts.

– By Scott Hettrick

Less than 48-hours after the official debut of the pilot episode of HBO’s new high-profile “Luck” series, the network has already ordered a second season of the program filmed at Santa Anita Park and various locations in Arcadia, including Rod’s Grill, among other cities in the region.

After a disappointing viewing audience of only 1.1 million viewers of the show’s sneak preview in December, the total gross audience for multiple showings of the pilot, including Sunday’s much-publicized broadcast, more than 3.3 million viewers have watched the program to date, according to Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming.

Production is slated to begin in late February to take advantage of the crowds and live racing during Santa Anita’s regular season. The second season would debut in January 2013. Much of the production of the first season had to be filmed when there was no racing in the fall of 2010 when Oak Tree Racing unexpectedly moved to Hollywood Park and there was no fall meet at Santa Anita for the first time in decades. The original pilot had been filmed during Santa Anita’s regular winter/spring meet in 2010.

HBO’s second season order is for 10 episodes, one more than this season’s nine episodes, the second of which will premiere this weekend on the same day as the Super Bowl.

“Luck,” from director Michael Mann and “Deadwood” creator David Milch, both executive producers on the show, is a behind-the-track look at the world of horse racing and gambling’s denizens – owners, trainers, jockeys and gamblers, whose cast is led by Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte.

Season one regulars included Dennis Farina, John Ortiz, Richard Kind, Kevin Dunn, Ian Hart, Ritchie Coster, Jason Gedrick, Kerry Condon, Gary Stevens, Tom Payne, and Jill Hennessy.

– By Scott Hettrick

The Arcadia Chamber of Commerce has named Alice Wang the 2012-2013 Citizen of the Year.

Alice Wang

Alice, who moved to Arcadia in 1982, has been one of the most active volunteers in the community for many years. This past year alone she is Vice President of the Arcadia Public Library Foundation; co-chair of the Assistance League of Arcadia’s Operation School Bell; Public Relations Chair for the Tzu Chi Foundation’s MWLA; a City-appointed Commissioner for the Arcadia Historical Museum, and on the board of the Arcadia Historical Museum Foundation.

She also continues to devote hours each week to the Arcadia Police Department’s Volunteers in Patrol Service (VIPS) program, which she joined in June 2008, and remains a very active member of the Arcadia Chinese Association, for which she was President in 2007-08.
If that isn’t enough, she is volunteering for the Foothill Unity Center and is being considered for a board seat there this year.

Alice’s volunteering  began at Arcadia High School from 1997-2001 while her daughter was a student, and then at ACA, Tzu-Chi, and various organizations in 2003 after she retired from her business of importing shoes.
As President of ACA, Alice was introduced to the community through ACA events. She said she made many friends with the leaders of Arcadia, which encouraged her to join many different volunteer organizations.

“As a volunteer for various organizations, I am able to provide a lot of input to ACA and lead the ACA board members to help these organizations as often as we can,” she said. “Last year I was proud to invite all the organizations to ACA’s 2011 Annual Fundraising Dinner to accept ACA’s donations, which was a great success because we were able to show what ACA has been doing for our community.”

Alice will succeed Sho Tay, this year’s Citizen of the Year, at the 2012 Citizen of the Year / Installation Dinner to be held on April 19 in the Chandelier Room at Santa Anita Park. The annual dinner event, featuring presentations by Chamber and City leaders and political dignitaries, is considered one of Arcadia’s premier events and features a silent auction.
For information and tickets, call the Chamber office at 626-447-2159.

Other recent Citizens of the Year include Vince Foley, current City Councilman Mickey Segal and his wife Lee Segal, Gail Jensen, and current Mayor Gary Kovacic.

– By Scott Hettrick