“One-third of the Palisades remains after the Palisades Fire,” Park Advisory Board (PAB) member Rick McGeagh said, urging the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to exit the park. “People need a place for recreation. Those of us who have relocated, need a place to meet.”
At the PAB meeting, held via Zoom on April 22, LADWP representatives said they could vacate the park, whenever the city and residents decided they needed it back.
Immediately after the Palisades Fire on January 7, DWP took over the Rec Center. They used the standing old gym as a UUROC (Unified Utilities Rebuild Operations Center). It was supposed to be a center where customers and contractors could talk directly with LADWP. Numerous tables and chairs were set up through the small gym with dividers, but when CTN stopped in, there were only three people in the small gym.
DWP placed poles and other equipment on a lower tennis court after the fire. DWP’s Senior Assistant General Manager – Power System David Hanson said the Rec Center location was ideal as a centralized site for emergency restoration of electrical power to the area.
Residents were not allowed to use the park. A DWP guard was and is situated at the entrance to the park and no one was allowed in for park activities.
Contractors, who had been hired by residents to examine the bocce or tennis courts for repair purposes, were turned away.
PAB Member Rob Weber asked, “When will UUROC vacate the small gym? This is the only standing gym in the Palisades.”
Weber offered to help DWP find other space because “This community needs and wants its gym back.”
Kim and Hanson were asked why contractors for repairing bocce, baseball and the tennis courts had been denied access.
“We want to get things fixed,” said PAB member Kambiz Kamdar.
“DWP needs site control,” Kim said. “If they need to get in, they can make an appointment with Sonja (Young-Jimenez, superintendent in charge of the Westside).”
PAB Member Alex Hemmat, who has 8-year-old twins said, “We need our little gym back as soon as possible.”
A new playground has been funded by the L.A. Parks Foundation. Construction to replace the nearly 40-year-old playground, which is not ADA accessible, is slated to start soon, with a completion scheduled by July 4.
The large gym, the maintenance building and the tennis center burned in the fire. A public-private partnership between the City, L.A. Strong Sports co-founder (and Laker’s Coach) JJ Redick and Steadfast L.A.’s Rick Caruso, will see the park rebuilt. Money will come from outside sources to offer city amenities to residents.
During an April 10 press conference “This will be one of the greatest parks in the United States,” Caruso said about the park that would replace destroyed buildings and the antiquated 1950s Rec Center.
During the hour PAB meeting, parents from the Palisades High School tennis team made a plea to have the tennis courts back because the high school uses the rec center for its teams.
Resident Mariam Engle said “Kids lost so much. Tennis provides them structure. The delay is impacting kids.”
Another parent, Joanne said, “I am in complete agreement with Mariam. “It is crucial that all eight courts be available as soon as possible.”
“Our kids mental health needs this sport. They need to play,” said parent Michelle Stuffman. “It’s desperately needed that these courts be up and running.” Other tennis players chimed in they wanted courts back, too.
“We don’t want to get in anyone’s way,” Hanson said. “Give us two weeks’ notice. We will get out of the way once anyone starts construction.”
He also promised that the tennis court that had been used to store equipment that “We’ll give it back to you better than it was.”
L.A. Rec and Park General Manager Jimmy Kim gave an update and said that they are waiting FEMA to make an onsite visit. Removal of the large gym has been approved and could start as early as next week.
The City has done testing on the playground sand and found no contamination. “We are working on monthly testing for the park,” Kim said, and sites would include the bocce, tennis and baseball areas.
There is air quality monitoring by Fire Station 69, which is a block away from the park, and the air is consistently good despite the ongoing debris removal in town, but “we’ll see if we can put it at the park, too.”
The next PAB Meeting will be on Zoom on May 20 and the timeline for DWP to exit the Rec Property will be discussed.
On another note the George Wolfberg Park at Potrero has been reopened but can only be accessed via Frontera. There is no parking on the lower lot off Frontera, but resident Cindy Simon said, “Not only are the plants growing, but they are also adding plants.”
My first year at LSU in the late 70’s, tuition, room and board for the year was a little under $3,000. College was cheap. The fact that you paid your loans off in five years waitressing says it all. Imagine having to deal with 100-150K of debt once school ends in today’s economy. It’s not an apples to apples comparison and financing a secondary education is a broken system.