What’s new in the neighborhood surrounding St. Mary’s Academy? Everything!
St. Mary’s Academy is sitting right in the middle of new growth and development, a renaissance in the city of Inglewood.
A mile to the south of the school is the active 298 acre construction site of what is to be the new Los Angeles Stadium & Entertainment District at Hollywood Park. Once completed, the complex will house a 70,000 seat open-air stadium that the LA Rams and the LA Chargers will call home. The site will also include a performance venue, a retail village, restaurants, offices, a hotel and private residences, all situated in a park like setting. The LA stadium is scheduled to open in 2020 and will be a venue for several sporting and social events, including the 2022 Super Bowl and 2028 Olympic events and competitions.
Directly across the southern border of the Entertainment District, a new basketball arena is on the horizon. The LA Clippers Professional Basketball Organization is in discussion to build a new, privately funded, 18,000 seat arena and plaza, with plans to open by 2024, when the Clippers’ current lease with Staples Center expires.
A block north of the school, the Metro Crenshaw /LAX Line is being built. The 8.5 miles metro line will serve the cities of Los Angeles, El Segundo, and Inglewood. The line will include eight stations, four being located in Inglewood, with one situated close to the school. Students will have a new mode of transportation to and from campus and other educational events, once the line is up and running in the next couple of years. The line will also link passengers to LAX by way of a new people mover.
Less than a mile to the west of the school, Frank Gehry, the world renown architect, is designing the conversion of an old bank building into the home of the new LA Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. The new space will be called the Judith and Thomas L. Beckman YOLA Center at Inglewood and will provide free music education to the students of the Inglewood area. YOLA Center will accommodate a performance space, studios, a music library, instrument storage, and rehearsal space. The project was recently revealed at the unveiling of the design, and construction is slated to begin over the next several months, with completion in two years.
Across the street from the school, on the site of the former Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital, is the construction of Grace Park. 228 Townhouses and condominiums, and a recreation center are in the early stages of construction, with the first phase of the project to be completed by 2020.
The renaissance brings with it student learning opportunities and engagement, new neighbors and partnerships, updated transportation infrastructure, housing, work, and entertainment possibilities, along with a fresh look and vitality to our community just as the school is celebrating its 130 years of educating young women.
Not content to rest on their laurels, many of our Belles were busy with a wide array of camps, programs, and volunteering across the country this summer. Over 50 students used their time away from campus to broaden their horizons, make new friends, and enrich their SMA experience.
