Facts on Westwood Project

I read the recent letter from Lisa Manheim and the “response” in the Aug. 17 issue by Prudence Macgowan Faxon (“Manager Should Mind Own Business”). I strongly support Ms. Manheim and disagree with Ms. Faxon.

It is not a fact, but a matter of opinion, as to whether the Village Center Westwood will help other Westwood businesses or not. I believe that it will be a very great benefit to all Westwood businesses as well as consumers. I think the factual evidence strongly supports that view, as do the majority of Westwood businesses and consumers.

To characterize the project as a “sunken mall” is a red herring. Its street-level shops and restaurants are supplemented with a football-field-sized plaza below street level, fully open to all, with escalators and elevators to transport people down one story from the street level or up from the 1,650 parking spaces below in the multi-level garage; there is no need to “climb.” When the project is completed, Macy’s corporate management will have the incentive to carry more and better merchandise to fulfill the needs of the enlarged group of Westwood consumers, rather than the sparse crowds that are available to the store now.

By the way, I am not a “P.R. staffer working for Ira Smedra.” I have lived in and around Westwood for 62 years and I remember the old Westwood very well. I might note that I do not now have, nor have I ever had, any financial interest in the Village, directly or indirectly. And I am not a member of any staff associated with the project, and I am not paid by Ira Smedra or anyone connected with him. I am just a person who wants to see the Village become an attractive, modern, alive place for all its constituents.

JOHN POSTLEY

Bel-Air