The tennis center, located above courts 1,2,3 & 4, burned after the Palisades Fire. The tennis courts survived the fire. Courts 5,6,7 & 8 need to be resurfaced.
(Editor’s note: After last nights Park Advisory Board meeting, Mikael Kuhn, penned and sent this letter Rec and Parks General Manager Jimmy Kim. It is shared with permission.)
I’m writing today as a Board Member and Secretary of the Palisades Friends of the Library to express my deep disappointment in the lack of leadership and progress regarding the placement of a temporary library facility in Pacific Palisades following the fire in January 2025.
In both June and August, we were told by you that the temporary library would be located on Rec Center grounds—first on the grassy area, then on tennis courts 7 & 8. Yet, nearly a year after the fire, no final decision has been made, and the issue remains unresolved.
This ongoing indecision has fueled anxiety and division within the community. Month after month, the same debate continues on Palisades Advisory Board (PAB) calls. You’ve effectively pitted library needs against the tennis community, forcing people to take sides when both are critical resources that deserve independent, adequate space.
Each PAB call has had around 80 attendees, the vast majority of whom strongly support restoring and preserving all 8 tennis courts. I—and the Board of the Palisades Friends of the Library—fully agree. This is not a matter of tennis vs. the library. It is about ensuring both thrive.
A temporary bungalow should not take a full year to site and install. Marquez Elementary built a temporary campus in four months. That’s proof it can be done—when leadership is willing to take action.
We’ve repeatedly been told that the temporary library must be located on Parks & Rec property. However, this stipulation seems to be more of a hindrance than a solution. No rationale has been provided for why this limitation exists, and alternative options—such as other city-owned lots or vacant, still-standing buildings—have not been seriously presented to the public or evaluated.
At last night’s PAB meeting, you spoke briefly, offered zero clarity, and then promptly left the call. You missed the many comments/concerns shared by the community, which signaled to us that you are not interested in working together towards a healthy and prompt solution.
At the close of the call, the PAB formally recommended that the temporary library not be placed anywhere on Rec Center property. I stand with them in this decision, and I call on you to immediately begin exploring other viable locations and to communicate openly with the community about your process and reasoning.
This situation does not require groundbreaking innovation—it simply requires communication, collaboration, and a willingness to act. Ten months without a single implementable solution is unacceptable, and frankly, embarrassing.
I urge you to provide a public update within the next two weeks outlining your next steps and timelines. The community deserves transparency, accountability, and action.
Sincerely,
Mikael Kuhn
Board Member & Secretary
Palisades Friends of the Library
For heaven’s sake ….
The obvious solution is to use the existing Park Building!
Sometimes the best solution is the one right in front of you!
You don’t have to build anything… it already exists!
Community Building to the rescue….!
How about Simon Meadow? They can easily fit a trailer there and there’s parking. The YMCA might be easier to work with.
I’m wondering what plan LAUSD has for the Temescal High Continuation School property and whether that site might be available.
Excellent letter. Very well articulated. Jimmy Kim has shown he is for whatever reason unable to provide leadership to resolve this important issue for all Palisadians.
Mr Kim, how about step away from trying to overstep yourself onto the tennis courts and leave them to the tennis players. Then assign one of your many employees who have been “tirelessly working to find other locations” and find a place for a stand-alone trailer or office space for those Park & Rec employees to meet & do their job.
Now the Library issue – since you don’t have to have a gigantic trailer serving 2 purposes (Park &Rec employees AND Library) identify a more reasonable sized trailer that serves as ONLY the Library, and reach out to the LA Archdiose /Corpus Christi to be a good neighbor. Ask them to pull down their collapsed fence surrounding their very large lawn which used to house the Rectory and now stands empty directly across the street from the Rec Center, and locate the Library right there. A perfect temporary location !! It would showcase good will from the LA Archdiose and at the same time move things forward to restore services to Palisades community.
There is a lawn west of the library parking lot…level it off and put the temporary structures there. For Gawds sake let the folks play tennis again, at least.