La Ballona Elementary School was a beehive of activity last Friday.
Sure, students still were on summer break, but that didn't stop more than 150 employees of HOK Architects from donating their time to turn a large chunk of pavement into a new athletic field, paint a massive world map and generally spruce up the Washington Boulevard campus.
Thanks to more than $50,000 in cash and in-kind donations from its partners and tons of labor from HOK employees, the company delivered a 5,400-square-foot soccer field lined by trees, complete with an automatic irrigation system.
“We are simply thrilled,” said Principal Christine Collins. “The work HOK did was magnificent. And I know every single one of our students will benefit.”
HOK Managing Principal Riccardo Mascia, AIA, said the community service project was part of what the company is doing at its offices around the world — giving back to the communities where they work.
“Our goal is to engage every person in every HOK office to make a meaningful positive impact in our local communities,” Mr. Mascia said.
“We think this will be a tangible illustration of our firm’s brand values in action: We Create. We Inspire. We Connect. We Care. At the end of the year, we plan to gather at a virtual event to celebrate the collective positive impact of our work around the world.”
The effort included the enlargement and complete renovation of the grass area, demolition and installation of new irrigation and drainage systems, installation of sod and soccer goals, installation of an irrigated planting strip parallel to Matteson Avenue, including planting of drought-tolerant trees, shrubs and ground cover, painting a 30-foot by 60-foot world map inside the track, painting of the three storage containers located on the yard as well as various other paint touch-up projects.
School District Supt. Dr. Myrna Rivera Cote said the project was “a wonderful example of our business community working with our schools, not only to improve our schools and achieve something great for the students of Culver City, but also to take away a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction for themselves.
“In speaking to the folks from HOK,” she said, “it is clear that these people have big hearts. They truly enjoyed all the back-breaking work they did at La Ballona. The District is thankful to have them as a business partner."
