Workers were at the playground working on Memorial Day.
The Palisades Park Advisory Board met via Zoom on May 20. Members were updated about the status of the playground. Construction began on April 28, and it appears it will be finished by the end of June or the beginning of July.
Palisades Recreation Center received funding from the Los Angeles Park Foundation to replace a more than 40-year-old handicapped inaccessible playground. But the bathrooms at the Palisades Recreation Center are also inaccessible and need to be replaced.
Los Angeles Park and Recreation is being sued in a federal class-action lawsuit that alleges violation of the American with Disabilities Act. The suit would require Los Angeles to fix its parks and park facilities, such as parking spaces, paths of travel, picnic areas, play areas, restrooms, recreation centers, senior centers, and other facilities so that they comply with the laws that require the City to make its parks and park facilities accessible to people with mobility disabilities. https://dralegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Notice-of-Class-Action-Lawsuit-approved-by-Court793758.1.pdf
Board member Rick McGeagh said that Quimby funds for restroom replacement had been found and the park needs to go forward with putting in updated bathrooms, which are adjacent to the playground.
McGeagh also suggested that the small gym be kept for use, while the large gym is being torn down. Board member Bob Benton said the small gym should be torn down because it has outlived its usefulness. Park director Jasmine Dowlatshahi said there is mold and asbestos in the small gym (no air conditioning nor heating, no Wifi and the bathrooms are not ADA accessible).
During public comment, Donna Vaccarino, president of the Historical Society, said she does not want to see the small gym, built in 1947 removed, because she feels it can be easily restored or retrofitted.
The “new” or large gym, the tennis and maintenance buildings will be removed by the Army Corps of Engineers. The removal of the fire damaged buildings has not been scheduled yet. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which has occupied the Recreation Center property since the Palisades Fire, will leave when ACE comes on the property.
Several board members wanted more details about DWP leaving, such as would they resurface and repair outdoor areas (tennis and basketball courts), and restore user access to bocce, tennis and baseball?
The DWP representative Theodore Zeiss said DWP didn’t know their schedule because they did not know the Corps schedule. Board members asked if he could give a detailed timeline for leaving and for repairs at the June meeting.
The most heart-wrenching part of the meeting came during public comment, when the Palisades High School baseball team spoke.
Vice President of the Palisades High School baseball booster club, Caren Gitlin, said the team cares about keeping the baseball program alive. Part of the high school burned in the fire. While the school district is rebuilding, they have leveled, destroyed and put portable classrooms on the baseball field, making it inaccessible for play.
PaliHi Athletic Director Rocky Montz, said they are hoping to build a relationship with the park so they can share facilities.
PAB President Andy Starrels said that PAB supports the baseball community, but the use of the park fields is determined by L.A. Rec and Parks and urged the team to contact RAP.
“I don’t think the school district realized how much the community will miss the baseball field and how much of a loss this is to the kids and families,” said Molly Branch a parent and a long-time Palisadian.
The baseball players on the call said they were willing to help work on the field and that included Jude De Pastino who said, “the loss of a field is devastating.”
Jett Teegardin said he has played baseball for a long time and “I’ll help with the field work. I really want a home field.”
Pali freshman Duke Badt has played all the sports at the Rec Center. Last year he tried out for PaliHi team and made it. He said, “The team has spent so much time on the field and a lot of time taking care of it. Seeing it bulldozed was devastating.”
Portable classrooms have been placed on the Palisades baseball field.
Paving the Baseball fields may have been a good idea if all 3k students were coming back, but they are NOT.. Pali High will be lucky to have 2/3 of its kids back on campus, I believe, and the rush to put bungalows up was very premature and NOT a smart idea.