Santa Catalina Island, California - Government and Infrastructure

Government and Infrastructure

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) operates the Avalon Station in Avalon, serving Santa Catalina Island. There is also a branch of the County of Los Angeles Public Library system in downtown Avalon, adjacent to the Sheriff's office. Fire Protection is provided by the Los Angeles County Fire Department Battalion 14 with Fire Station #55 in Avalon Canyon and Fire Station #155 at Two Harbors. Paramedic and lifeguard services are provided by the County Fire Department's Lifeguard Division, also known as Baywatch.

Children in Avalon attend schools in the Long Beach Unified School District. There are two schools on Catalina Island. Two Harbors is served by a one-room school house for grades K-5; students travel to Avalon for grades 6–12. Avalon schools are housed on one main campus that includes Avalon Elementary School, Avalon Middle School and Avalon High School. Thousands of school-age youths travel from the mainland to study at the Catalina Island Marine Institute every year.

The USC Wrigley Institute research and teaching facilities at Big Fisherman's Cove, near Two Harbors, maintained by the University of Southern California and named for Philip K. Wrigley, consist of a 30,000-square-foot (3,000 m2) laboratory building, dormitory housing, cafeteria, a hyperbaric chamber, and a large waterfront staging area complete with dock, pier, helipad, and diving lockers. The facility was made possible by a donation from the Wrigley family in 1995.