Strolling the Recreation Center: When Will It Reopen?

This editor wanted to do an update of the playground, tennis and bocce courts, but was once again stopped by the L.A. DWP guard at the entrance to the Recreation Center at Alma Real. After the Palisades Fire, the Department of Water and Power took over that Rec Center, calling it the Unified Utilities Rebuild Operation Center, and denying residents access to the park.

Telling the guard, I wanted to take a photo of the playground, he said, “It’s gone.” So, I pivoted and said, I need to speak to people in the Unified Operations Center. Bingo, I was in.

I stopped by the small gym, where there were perhaps three dozen or more empty cubicles. There were three “officials” chatting, so I asked them when undergrounding for residents would happen and was told it was in the planning stages. I asked about a timeline for undergrounding and was told there wasn’t one.

Next stop, the playground. The structures have been removed, and the ground was being evened out before the next stage could occur. The new playground is projected to be completed by the beginning of July.

The four upper tennis courts looked in good shape, and with a cleaning would be useable again, which might be good news for the Palisades High School tennis team, which doesn’t have a place to practice.

The healthy trees in front of the bocce courts were cut by the DWP and are now starting to resprout at the base of the trunk. The base of the courts needs to be redone. The grills need to be taken out of the park and DWP needs to turn on the irrigation for the grass, it is dry and will burn easily.

George Wolfberg Park in Potrero is lush and filled with wildflowers.

George Wolfberg Park is blooming with wildflowers, is open to residents and is an enjoyable walk. The bathroom is not fixed because of either electrical or water issues, hmm, DWP is right there, I wonder if they could help?

Finally, I fell coming out of the park and now have a nicely bruised eye. The sidewalk is uneven and needs to be fixed, as does the road. As long as DWP is “renting/using” that facility they should make those repairs.

The sidewalk and road at the Recreation Center should be repaved and repaired before someone suffers something far worse than a bruised eye.

Next time you’re in the Palisades, have a little snack at the Palisades Garden Care, Chipotle, Prima Cantina, Moku or Spruzzo, and then plan for a walk in Potrero.

If one is worried about the air, there are sensors at Fire Stations 23 and 69, and it appears air quality is better here than in other areas to the east of Los Angeles.

Today, BOCA owner Denise Mangimelli chatted with the editor in the street. Good news.  She plans to reopen her store sometime in the late summer in her Palisades location on Monument. When asked about her house, she said it burned, but then smiled and said, “Well we had termites, that took care of them.”

Finally, there is a lot of focus put on the homes destroyed and damaged, but all should applaud the “anchor residents” who have moved or are moving back in their standing homes.

Yesterday, CVS was in the process of finishing the cement floors, and a person on site, thought they might open in a few months.

The floors in CVS will be completed this week.

A large portion of the El Medio bluffs is intact, and provided a lovely drive through on May 8, helping this editor remember how lovely our neighborhoods are, and will be again.

The streets are still lovely in many portions of Pacific Palisades.