Educational Park Plan OKd

The Los Angeles Board of Education has approved an environmental impact report and master plan for the Ft. MacArthur Educational Complex, an educational park in San Pedro that includes a marine animal study center.

The EIR was approved 7-0 Tuesday, while the master plan was adopted on a 6-1 vote, with board member Rita Walters dissenting.

Developed in part with $3 million from Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, the publishing firm that bought Marineland a year before closing it in 1987, the marine center will include a variety of teaching and research laboratories, outdoor pools, a museum and herbarium, four lecture halls, a 250-seat theater and a library.

The center, in the Upper Reservation of Ft. MacArthur, will be operated by a consortium of officials representing the school district, local universities and the Cabrillo Marinue Museum, and will serve students in fourth through 12th grades as well as college. The district will provide $250,000 to help develop the property and will be responsible for some operating costs. Other support will come from the Milken Family Foundation, which has pledged $1 million, and other private donations and grants.

Construction is scheduled to begin this year.