CITYSCAPE ROUNDUP:Home Depot nails down hours

Operators of the future Home Depot at Magnolia Street and Garfield Avenue have withdrawn plans to ask the city to revise the store’s hours.

“The applicant didn’t provide an explanation, and we don’t need an explanation,” said project planner Ron Santos.

The Planning Commission in July approved a permit for the project and its hours of operation.

The permit allowed Home Depot to begin construction on a 99,000-square-foot store and another 25,000-square-foot garden center. The site was formerly occupied by K-Mart.

The store’s approved operating hours were set for 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. from Monday though Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday.

The store was asking the Commission to modify its operating hours to include an extra hour in the evening during the week and another hour in the morning on Sunday, consistent with its other store at 7100 Warner Ave.

If the new store hours had been approved, Home Depot would keep its doors open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. from Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday.

Home Depot operators informed Santos about the decision on Tuesday and said they will send a letter also. “They are not obligated to explain why they withdrew plans,” Santos said.

The delivery hours, excluding lumber delivery, will remain unchanged as to 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. from Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

The retailer of home improvement products and equipment is slated to employ about 200 people at its new facility.

Doro Bush to talk about her father

In a one-time appearance in Orange County, George H.W. Bush’s daughter Dorothy Bush Koch will be presenting her new book, “My Father, My President: A Personal Account of George H.W. Bush,” at the Huntington Beach Central Library on Tuesday.

The book offers an inside look at the life and career of the former president with rare photographs and family stories. Koch writes about how her father dealt with challenges and crises during his presidency and maintained his sense of humor through it.

Koch, nicknamed “Doro” for Dorothy, is the youngest of four children that includes three brothers Marvin Bush, Florida Gov. Jeb Neil Bush and President George W. Bush. Koch is the only daughter of Barbara and George Bush.

Koch will speak at the event and sign her book starting at 7 p.m. Admission for two people to the event is included in the purchase of the book, which costs about $30.

The event is organized by the Friends of the Huntington Beach Library along with Book Soup of South Coast Plaza. About 20% of the book sales will be donated to the Friends of the Library.

Priority seating and entry is reserved for those who buy or pre-order the book from Book Soup at (714) 689-2665 or at www.booksoup.com.

Boeing to move satellite operations to Denver

Boeing Co. has received the green light from federal regulators to shift its satellite launch operations in Huntington Beach to Denver.

The move is part of a venture with Maryland-based Lockheed Martin Corp. that will combine production, engineering, test and launch operations.

The move will affect about 950 Boeing workers in Huntington Beach. The company plans to offer relocation packages to all the workers.

The venture, called United Launch Alliance, will reduce the cost of Boeing’s Delta rocket and Lockheed Martin’s Atlas rocket programs to meet national security and NASA launch vehicle needs, according to a Boeing news release.

In July, Boeing announced that about 3,700 employees from its Anaheim facility would relocate over the next four years to the company’s Huntington Beach location.

“It’s just a question of economics and what makes the most business sense for the Boeing footprint in Southern California,” said Paula Shawa, Boeing’s communication manager at the time.

The move to Denver would take about two years to complete.

Huntington Beach Hospital sale completed

Prime Healthcare Services Inc. wrapped up its buy of the 131-bed Huntington Beach Hospital from Vanguard Health Systems on Oct. 3.

The acute-care hospital was sold to Prime Healthcare along with the 141-bed La Palma Intercommunity Hospital in La Palma and the 219-bed West Anaheim Medical Center in Anaheim in August.

The Huntington Beach Hospital has been operating since 1967 and employs about 500 workers with more than 300 physicians on its roster, according to its website.

Victorville-based Prime Healthcare said in an August news release they would retain all staff. Terms of the sale weren’t disclosed.

Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanguard Health Systems said it wanted to focus on it core markets in Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts and Texas. Vanguard owns and operates 16 hospitals and other facilities.