By Emily Dubinsky
Staff Writer
The Manhattan Beach Unified School District and the Gensler Architectural Firm held two open houses on April 3 and 4 regarding plans to redesign the Mira Costa Fisher Gym and on Wednesday, Gensler presented advancements from the open house at the MBUSD Board Workshop.
The April 3 open house was for MBX, boosters, and other stakeholders and the second open house was for community members. The open houses were two hour meet-and-greets where attendees talked with Gensler architects to learn more about the gym project. According to Murakawa-Leopard, the district’s current priority is to make sure that those interested have an opportunity to learn about the project and to offer any input regarding the gym’s redesign.
Photos: Gensler hosts open gym
“I am very appreciative of the community engagement that we have seen so far and hope that everyone feels welcomed and included in the conversation,” Murakawa-Leopard said. “We recognize that this is a community-supported project, and we want to make sure that we are hearing everyone’s voice before we commit to a plan.”
According to MBUSD, Gensler incorporated ideas from the open house in its design process and presented their ideas to the board at Wednesday’s workshop.
“[The workshop] was an important opportunity for people to see where we’re headed,” Murakawa-Leopard said. “Gensler listened to [our input] very carefully to make sure that they have correctly understood our collective needs and priorities and so that they can make adjustments and modifications as needed.”
Link: About the Mira Costa Gym Replacement Project
According to Murakawa-Leopard, after hearing feedback from the workshop, Gensler will return to the next Board meeting on May 3 and ask the Board to give direction to move forward with more detailed gym designs.
Link: The agenda for Measure EE BOC meeting
“We will have to compromise and make decisions about what will be included [in the new gym,]” Cochran said. “I’m sure some of these decisions will not be easy, but all of the work we are doing is really important to help make informative decisions.”
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