Representatives from the Rams organization addressed the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization (WHHO) Wednesday night, and presented their playbook for their Warner Center practice facility on the old Anthem site.
Brad Rosenheim of the land-use consulting firm Rosenheim & Associates in Warner Center described the planned layout of the fields and adjacent support structures.
The secure facility will be fenced and gated. It will be a purely practice and training facility with no bleachers or areas for spectators. There will be no practices at night so no stadium lighting and the fencing around the perimeter will be fully landscaped.
At present the plans are to not use the old Anthem high-rise, which Rosenheim said was in quite a state of disrepair after being unoccupied the last few years. The current visitor center and auditorium will actually be demolished. “It is an ongoing project and they will be evaluating conditions and updating the property piece by piece,” he said.
There will be modular buildings brought to the site to house staff offices, locker rooms, weight rooms and more.
Access to the site will be primarily from Owensmouth and Canoga. The Erwin driveway will be closed off.
Rosenheim said that traffic will be significantly reduced around the property, as Anthem had up to 3,000 employees and the anticipated number at the Rams facility will be closer to 225.
As important to WHHO members and residents is the level of community involvement the Rams organization will have in the west valley, as they move their practice fields and headquarters from Thousand Oaks to Warner Center.
Maria Camacho, Director of Government Affairs for the Rams, told the WHHO audience that the organization is – and will be – very involved with the local community, especially local school football programs.
Their outreach includes Play 60 fields days at local school to promote physical activity and healthy choices, a staff day of service where each month the Rams organization shuts down for a day and all staff volunteer at a non-profit, their Playmaker program which highlights 13 local community leaders, various football camps for students and coaches, mentorship programs, academic challenges and more.
Organizations interested in being part of their community outreach can email warnercenterinfo@rams.nfl.com.
They anticipateh aving the fields created and in use by the end of the year.
Questions were raised about the future of the Promenade Mall, which Rams owner Stan Kroenke purchased, along with The Village shopping center.
Rosenheim said that there are no development plans in the works at present, even though the property was sold by Westfield with entitlements for a sports stadium, hotels, condominiums and retail outlets.
Construction costs and the future of commercial real estate were named as factors in holding off development on the Promenade parcel.
The WHHO audience on the Zoom meeting were generally supportive of the Rams move to Warner Center, and questions revolved primarily around the aesthetics of the development and its impact on the surrounding streets, which both Rosenheim and Camacho addressed.
