Faced with the pending closure of its B-2 bomber plant, officials at Northrop Grumman Corp. are working with Pico Rivera city officials to convert the plant into a mixed-use commercial center.

The Pico Rivera City Council on Aug. 18 will hear several proposals by the aerospace giant on possible reuses for the site. Northrop expects to close the plant as soon as 1999. It plans to retain ownership of the site and lease it to a developer.

“We need to find a use for the property, as well as a way to generate jobs in the area,” said Ed Smith, a spokesman for Northrop. “We want to lessen the impact of the plant closure on the community.”

The most likely use for the site appears to be as a mixed-use center with commercial, manufacturing and industrial tenants, he said. That would generate about 7,000 jobs.

Other ideas being pitched include converting the entire plant to an alternate type of manufacturing, which would generate 7,314 jobs, he said.

Another option would be building a high-end “mega-mall” on the site which would create about 5,000 jobs, Smith said.

Any change in use for the property must be approved by the city’s Planning Commission and City Council, said City Manager Dennis Courtemarche.

“Anything on the Northrop site must pass the city’s zoning laws,” he said. “And, that’s the point we are at now narrowing down the options.”

One idea already soundly rejected by the city was a plan to build a theme park on the site. That proposed project, with an estimated cost of $3.2 billion, would have created about 7,100 jobs, Courtemarche said.