Norwalk : Wright School Being Razed

Wright Intermediate School, closed since 1978, is falling apart with the help of wrecking crews clearing the way for construction of a $75-million commercial and residential complex.

London Pacific Investors, a Southern California development partnership, broke ground earlier this month on the 22-acre school site at the southeast corner of Norwalk Boulevard and the Santa Ana Freeway. Plans call for an eight-story, 181-room Sheraton hotel, a 168-unit condominium and townhouse complex, a six-story office building, a movie theater and retail shops.

Closed when the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District phased out all of its intermediate schools, Wright was declared surplus property in 1981, incorporated in a local redevelopment zone and sold by the district for $9 million.