Construction began in April 2024 for Harvard-Westlake’s $200-million sports complex on the former 16-acre Weddington Golf & Tennis facility in Studio City. A recent tour showed there has been major progress, with the private and public areas scheduled to open in the fall of 2026.
The new underground parking lot with 130 charging spaces for electric cars is mostly completed except for painting the individual parking spots. There will be a security door opened using facial recognition to allow staff to enter the main gymnasium and auxiliary gym through the parking lot. A wrestling room, fencing room, weight room, sports medicine training room and yoga room are all taking shape.
There are 11 locker rooms for home and visiting teams.
Two all-weather turf fields probably will be the last to be finished with all the construction equipment being left in the areas for now. There won’t be as many toilets as in the Intuit Dome [more than 1,000], but 117 is pretty good.
The old golf clubhouse has been remodeled and will be open to the public for meals. The old putting green is still out front on Whitsett Avenue. A cafeteria adjacent to the main gym is under construction, along with eight tennis courts and a 52-meter pool for swimming and water polo. Security walls are going up that will separate the private and public areas.
There will be more than 150 security cameras with AI helping to monitor issues. There’s new oak trees and orange trees growing as part of a giant landscaping project. Water is already being captured with a completed underground stormwater and reuse system.
The plan is for basketball games to be held in the new main gym at the end of 2026. Soccer, lacrosse, water polo, swimming and field hockey also will hold competitions there. The school committed to no football games on the site for now.
Next year, the school will need a temporary certificate of occupancy permit so coaches and others can set up facilities, then a permanent certificate before allowing students and others into the complex known as River Park.
With two gyms, look for the school to host future basketball tournaments. With two sports fields and its pool, the site could be used for practices by foreign teams in the summer of 2028 before the Olympic Games. The amenities look impressive with a year of construction remaining.