What time is it when you walk through the Whitsett Avenue gate? On the old Weddington site, that question will matter more than it used to.
Weddington Golf & Tennis closed on April 3, 2024. Harvard-Westlake's River Park is replacing it. The $200 million complex has two gyms, a 52-meter pool, eight tennis courts and two all-weather turf fields. The public will get a lot of it back. Each piece follows its own schedule, though, and every schedule starts from when the school's teams are using it.
Where the site stands this fall
The opening has moved. The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle reported on August 25, 2026, that River Park's opening was pushed from fall 2026 to early 2027. Final inspections and the certificate of occupancy are still waiting on the city. Head of Upper School Beth Slattery described where things stand:
"Other than the permitting process, which isn't something we can control, things are on track. The city decides when it gives approval for certain things, so River Park's opening will probably be sometime towards the end of this calendar year or the beginning of next."
The Los Angeles Times reported the same early-2027 target on July 29. Meanwhile, the work you can see from the street has moved to the edges of the site. The school's September 25 construction update lists:
- Continued sidewalk repair and tree replanting on Whitsett Avenue, with a lane closure, for about six more weeks. Crews were starting to form and pour roughly half of the new sidewalk.
- Removal of the top half of the acoustical construction fence along Valley Spring Lane and Bellaire. The bottom half stays up until construction ends.
- Final tree trimming around the whole perimeter.
- Metal bleachers being assembled at Field A and at the pool.
The Whitsett closure runs from Valley Spring to the fire station, and the sidewalk on that stretch is closed too. The school says the rebuilt sidewalk will sit farther onto its property, with a wider landscaped strip and new native oaks. If you walk Whitsett, plan around the closure through roughly early November. When the fence comes down, it will also be the first time many neighbors see the finished site from the sidewalk.
The clock the whole site runs on
The grounds themselves have the simplest rule. Harvard-Westlake's FAQ says the park and clubhouse will be open to the general public every day of the year from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. You'll be able to get in from the Zev Yaroslavsky LA River Greenway or through the main pedestrian entrance off Whitsett Avenue. The school rounds the open space to six acres. The city's approval record puts it at 5.4 acres.
The athletic facilities are another matter. The school says it will generally use them from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. during the school year, with most use falling between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. All public hours for courts, pool and track are set around that afternoon block. Here's how the published windows fit together:
| Facility | Public access as described | When the school has priority |
|---|---|---|
| Park, walking loop, clubhouse | Daily, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. | Never closed to the public on this schedule |
| Tennis courts | Generally 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. | Roughly 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. |
| Pool | Individual lap swim weekdays 7 to 9 a.m., September through May | Afternoons, plus other school use |
| Field B and track | Individual use weekdays 7 a.m. to noon, September through May | Afternoons |
| Fields, pool, gym for groups | Community groups when Harvard-Westlake athletes aren't using them | School practice and game times |
The walking route is a three-quarter-mile loop around the site that connects to the Greenway. The Council District 4 letter also lists an ADA-accessible public walkway and a pocket park near the clubhouse and tennis courts. The loop, the lawns and the clubhouse are open in every hour the gates are. The courts, pool and track are open in the hours the school leaves free.
Weekday mornings go to individuals
Line the windows up and the pattern is clear. Every facility the school opens to individuals is open in the morning. Lap swimmers get 7 to 9 a.m. The track and Field B run until noon. The tennis courts stay public until 3 p.m. The pool and track windows only cover September through May. The Council District 4 letter also proposed keeping the pool and Field B out of public use while school camps run from June through August.
Evenings are the second opening, mostly for tennis. Courts are generally public again from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The FAQ also says all outdoor competition ends before 8 p.m. and no football games will be played on site.
The Times notes the school expects the first year to involve trial and error. That includes working out traffic patterns and how to welcome the public onto grounds that are usable during the school day. Treat the windows above as the plan going in, not a fixed timetable.
Sundays stay clear of school athletics
Sunday is when the site will feel least like a school campus. The Council District 4 letter says school practices, games and athletic events won't happen there on Sundays. The same negotiated conditions cut on-site events from nearly 30 to 20. The City Council approved the project 15–0 on November 14, 2023.
On the published schedule, individual lap swimming and track time are weekday programs. On Sundays, the courts, fields and pool are mainly open to the general public and to community groups that book them. The letter also says the property can't be rented or leased for uses other than Harvard-Westlake and related organizations.
What carried over from Weddington
Some of the old Weddington will still be there. The city's approval record lists the golf clubhouse, the putting green, the low brick retaining wall and the golf-ball-shaped light standards as features to keep. The district letter calls for preserving mature trees as much as possible and adding to the total number of native trees.
Café Southwest is coming back as well. The school says it will reopen in the remodeled clubhouse with a new kitchen and more seating. The original plan was to finish the clubhouse first so the café could open before the rest of the campus. The weekly construction updates have listed clubhouse landscaping, such as shrubs and understory planting around the building, through recent months. The school's River Park overview lists public access to the clubhouse, café and putting green. Because they're open during all park hours, these are the parts of the old Weddington you'll be able to use at any time of day.
What hasn't been published yet
A few practical details are still missing. The city's record says public use of the recreational facilities will go through a reservation system. No booking portal or procedure appears in the school's FAQ yet.
Fees are also unsettled on paper. The FAQ says many features will be free. One city staff response describes no fee for public use and access. A separate City Clerk exhibit says outside groups would pay to use the recreational facilities, with the walking path, putting green, café and clubhouse excluded from fees. The district letter adds that the school may require annual liability waivers and background checks. If your league or club plans to apply for field or gym time, budget for paperwork and possibly a fee until the final rules come out.
Getting there has its own rules. The FAQ lists 386 underground and 17 surface parking spaces, sends cars in through Whitsett, and asks visitors not to park in the surrounding neighborhood. Studio City has seen this kind of parking spillover before, around Fryman Canyon's parking fee. A planned Greenway ramp at Coldwater Canyon Avenue was removed from the project. On foot or by bike, you'll enter from the Greenway itself or through the Whitsett pedestrian entrance.
The gym's ground-level community room will be reservable by public organizations. The River Room generally won't be, since it's set aside for school programs and preapproved environmental-group programs that are open to the public. No public grand-opening event has been announced.
Want to know how River Park's hours, the Whitsett changes and the opening timeline affect your corner of Studio City? Robert Ramos follows these block-by-block changes closely. Book a free neighborhood strategy call.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
