Pacoima By MARK R. MADLER Staff Reporter Finishing touches are being applied to a new facility operated by a not-for-profit agency serving the poor in the northeast San Fernando Valley. Meet Each Need with Dignity, or MEND, will move into the 40,000-square foot building at 10641 San Fernando Blvd. in Pacoima next month with an official grand opening on March 31. In May, the facility will be available for use by community groups. “The neat thing is there will be so much more we can do and be able to give people more dignity,” MEND Executive Director Marianne Haver Hill said. For over 30 years, the organization has served the poor of the Valley with emergency food and clothing distribution, medical, dental and vision care, and education and job training programs. Its present facility on Van Nuys Boulevard in Pacoima was last renovated in 1996 and since that time the organization has outgrown its space. Private funds were used for the new facility, designed and built by R.E. Lee Design and Construction Inc. in Reseda. Artistic elements were added to the building’s design so that it would be welcoming for the people served there as well as the volunteers, Hill said. For instance, the clothing distribution center was modeled to mimic a retail store with dressing rooms and front window displays. “Right now we are so crammed in our current space we can only let 10 people in at a time and they only have 15 minutes to make their selection,” Hill said. The number of dental chairs for clients will expand to eight in the new facility, which gives MEND the opportunity to partner with regional dental schools to have students volunteer their services. Additional medical services and health education programs will be offered at the new location, as will a homeless shower program in conjunction with L.A. Family Housing. The Van Nuys Boulevard facility will house expanded education and job training programs. MEND, however, still needs to raise the remaining $600,000 to pay for the new facility The organization prides itself on spending less than 5 percent of its revenues on overhead and fundraising and for never having to pay a mortgage on its facilities, Hill said. “We’d like to continue that tradition and that’s why we want to get that last $600,000,” Hill said. Zenith Insurance, Anheuser Busch, Primestor Development, and Agora Realty and Management are among the businesses that have contributed to the project. CONEJO VALLEY Thousand Oaks History: The Ventura County Museum of History and Art has changed its name and opened a satellite location at The Oaks shopping center. The newly re-branded institution, now called simply The Museum of Ventura County, will be based on the mall’s upper level. Plans are also in the works to renovate the museum’s main facility in Ventura this fall. ANTELOPE VALLEY Palmdale Build: Crews broke ground Feb. 7 on the new, 50-acre Palmdale Gateway Center, a commercial center at the northwest corner of Avenue R and 47th Street East. The 522,000-square-foot center will eventually include a Target, Home Depot and other retail. Hopkins Real Estate Group is the developer. SANTA CLARITA VALLEY Santa Clarita Moved: The landscaping company Stay Green Inc. has moved its headquarters from Valencia into a new ground-up building in CentrePointe Business Park. The 8,000-square-foot facility at 26415 Summit Circle will house the company’s headquarters. Santa Clarita-based Integrated Property Services Group was the project manger on the building. Valencia Garlic: The pizza chain Garlic Jim’s Famous Gourmet Pizza has opened a franchise at Northpark Village Center, 27732 McBean Parkway. It is the first location in California for the 93-store pizza chain known for pizzas topped with nontraditional items such as chipotle pesto, cashews and roasted corn. Owners Joe and Sally Brown also plan to open Garlic Jim locations in Stevenson Ranch in May and Canyon Country later. A separate franchisee is also opening a location in Burbank. Garlic Jim’s is based in Everett, Wash. SAN FERNANDO VALLEY Burbank Pictures: AMC Burbank 16 Theatres is among the 78 theaters taking part in the “AMC Best Picture Showcase” on Feb. 24 during which all five nominees for Best Picture at the Academy Awards will be shown in a single day. The five films, “Babel,” “The Departed,” “Letters From Iwo Jima,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” and “The Queen” will play back-to-back throughout the day in one dedicated auditorium. “There is no better way to see these highly-acclaimed films than on the big screen,” said AMC Entertainment Inc. Chairman and CEO Peter C. Brown. “These are some of the most celebrated movies of the year, and we are excited to present our guests with this unparalleled, affordable opportunity to be in the know about the Best Picture Oscar nominees or see their favorite films again, all in one day.” An all-day pass to see the films costs $30. Glendale Spot: Glendale Adventist Medical Center’s Heart and Vascular Institute has won a 2006 Aegis Award for a 17-minute motivational video, “A Little More Time What It’s Worth to You.” The peer award recognizes outstanding video products and non-network commercials. Pacoima Fair: Feria Hispana ‘Salud y Hogar,’ a community fair showcasing healthcare and home/life services, takes place on Sunday, Feb. 25, between noon and 8 p.m. at 14400 Van Nuys Boulevard in Pacoima. Visitors can get a number of free healthcare screenings such as mammograms and cholesterol tests along with information and resources related to home buying, immigration, education, legal services and job opportunities. There will also be carnival games and arts and crafts activities for kids. The fair is sponsored by Comite Civico Latino-Americano, a Chatsworth-based group that serves Latino residents in L.A. and surrounding areas. The agency said it is in the process of inviting companies, hospitals and others to participate in the event. Studio City Treat: A source of frozen confections recently opened in Tujunga Village. The Italian-inspired Gelato Bar, which took over a storefront at 4342 1/2 Tujunga Avenue, offers coffee, snacks and 24 gelato and sorbetto flavors each day. The concept is the brainchild of Joel Gutman and his fianc & #233;, Gail Silverton, founder of the Neighborhood School in Sherman Oaks. The storefront was the original location of Vitello’s Italian Restaurant, which moved across the street. Space: A Valley-based music group is behind the music heard during the planetarium show at the renovated Griffith Park Observatory. In creating the score for “Centered in the Universe,” Alan Ett, Scott Liggett, and William Ashford worked for over a year with animatics prepared weekly by an animation team. The final 32-minute score was played by a live orchestra supplemented by midi tracks and supported by sound design. The composers also had to keep in mind that the Samuel Oschin Planetarium theater has 360 degree sound and discrete allocation of audio elements anywhere in the theater. “We actually have the ability to have a flute solo follow the path of the sun as it circumnavigates the dome,” Ett said. “The show that emerged is an experience like no other.” Universal City Graphics: Work by creative services company Mdots was recently aired during both the Super Bowl and The Grammy Awards. The firm created and produced the on-air graphics package for the Super Bowl Halftime show on CBS TV. The graphics and effects were designed to enhance the special performance by singer Prince. “When we create special effects, our goal is to be as realistic as possible,” said Mdots executive producer Allan Wells. For the Grammy Awards show on Feb. 11, the design was made to emulate an orchestra, composing several detailed images working together to form an overall flowing design, said Annie Babin, an Mdots designer. “The direction leans toward a more monochromatic palette, featuring an arrangement of imagery such as cloudbursts, growing floral elements, and a kaleidoscope of musical instruments,” Babin said. “It’s like music for the eyes.” Valley Glen Topped: Crews installed the final piece of steel in the new Allied Health and Science Center at Los Angeles Valley College, finishing the framing stage of construction. The $46 million facility includes 98,000 square feet that will eventually house computer and teaching labs and classrooms for the health science, biological science, chemistry and earth science departments. It will have environmentally friendly features that will save energy and generate as much as 10 percent of the building’s electricity. The project is slated to finish by April 2008. Van Nuys Aviation: Local high school counselors gathered on Feb. 2 for a half-day forum to increase their knowledge about careers in aviation that can be passed along to their students. The forum was sponsored by the Van Nuys Airport, along with the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley and LAUSD Districts 1 and 2. Keynote speakers were Los Angeles City Councilman Tony Cardenas and Karen Kukurin, deputy director in the office of the governor. Woodland Hills Lodge: The Pacific Lodge Boys’ Home presented its Lifetime Achievement Award to Donald J. MacMaster. MacMaster has served Pacific Lodge for 16 years and was recognized as “Chairman Emeritus” for his dedication to its board of directors as chair in 1994-95 and again in 2006. Pacific Lodge is a residential treatment facility for troubled young men located on a 10-acre site in Woodland Hills since 1923. MacMaster is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and retired as a Lt. Colonel from the U.S. Air Force. MacMaster and his family live in Woodland Hills.