Garages

A San Diego-based investment bank has sold Car Barn Airport Parking near Los Angeles International Airport to PRG Parking Holding for more than $56 million in cash. The sale follows a $15-million renovation of the site by its former owner, investment bank First Commercial Corp. The 1-million-square-foot garage at 5757 W. Century Blvd. contains 2,700 parking spaces.

An underground pipe feeding into a 441-unit apartment complex burst Saturday afternoon, causing a geyser-like spray of water that left a 15-foot sinkhole in a driveway and nearly flooding a garage full of vehicles, authorities said. It took 10 firefighters about 45 minutes to shut off the water after the pipe broke at 3:13 p.m., just in time to save 23 vehicles in the garage from serious damage, said Battalion Chief Doug Mochizuki.

A $3.2-million parking garage was opened by Burbank city officials Wednesday, fulfilling an arrangement with Los Angeles County by which the county is expanding the courthouse facilities. "We've been looking forward to this for a long time," Burbank Municipal Judge Marion E. Gubler said.

A garage door that is well cared for and properly maintained is safer and will last longer than one that is not. As the largest moving object in the home, a garage door is a force to be reckoned with. An improperly adjusted garage door or automatic opener can cause serious injuries. Pinched, crushed and amputated fingers, fractures, crushed pets and injured children are some tragic occurrences reported by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Sadly, some of these injuries result in death.

Five children ages 1 to 9 were killed Thursday when an early morning fire trapped a sleeping family inside a converted Watts garage. Among the dead was a second-grader who was scheduled to sing at her school's Christmas celebration just a few hours later. The brothers and sisters perished despite their father's desperate attempt to rescue them. Iron bars covered all the windows of the garage, which had been converted into a residence without a city permit, officials said.

When future archeologists sift through the residential rubble of what was once Orange County, chances are they will find little evidence that garages were supposed to house cars. Instead, they will find offices and wood shops and fitness centers, rehearsal studios, billiard rooms, boatyards, artist studios. In Corona del Mar, 400 cases of vintage wine sit in an insulated, thermostatically controlled garage "wine cellar."

Mark Hild enjoys nothing better than spending his day working in his townhouse garage-turned-art studio in Irvine. Cluttered with filing cabinets, a photographic darkroom and portraits of jazz great Duke Ellington, the room is where the 71-year-old semi-retired graphic illustrator has continued to practice his craft for additional income.

Finding a parking spot in West Hollywood has long been a dreaded undertaking for many visitors, but officials are hoping that a new parking garage on Santa Monica Boulevard will help. The city today opens a 170-space garage at Santa Monica Boulevard and Kings Road. About 7,400 square feet of ground-level retail space also is planned.

The City Council has approved spending about $2 million in a joint venture to build a six-level parking garage that will provide 125 more spaces for visitors to Old Pasadena. Under a deal approved by the council late Monday, motorists visiting the Old Pasadena shopping district will be able to share parking at the proposed Courtyard by Marriott. The public will have access to two underground floors; hotel guests will use 274 spaces on floors above.

Like other mothers, Maria Torres rushes her children off to school, sets the toddlers to play and does her housework. In the afternoon the kids search the refrigerator for snacks and do their homework before dinner. It's harder for Torres than for most women, however. The comforts of home are in short supply. "At least it is a roof and four walls," Torres said of the $200-a-month garage on Telfair Street in Pacoima that she shares with her five children.