Photo shows a palm-lined pathway from Atlantic Avenue to the original clubhouse at Houghton Park. The City of Long Beach’s plan is to keep the historic palms and pathway to lead from Atlantic to the new clubhouse that is part of an updated community center being discussed by city officials.
Staff Writer
Residents, students and senior citizens this month will have a chance to weigh in on plans for a new community center to be built at Houghton Park in north Long Beach that would replace all or a portion of a more than 80-year-old historical structure.
For years, the Houghton Park Community Center has been utilized year-round for neighborhood meetings and programs for youth, adults and seniors in the north Long Beach area. The complex consists of a “clubhouse” that was first built in 1930 and additions that were made in the 1940s and 1950s, according to local historians.
Over the years, however, the center has been left in disrepair, and the surrounding community, which has “outlived” the facility, according to city officials, has requested that the City build a new center.
As part of ongoing renovations to Houghton Park, located in the 9th Council District at 6301 Myrtle Ave. off of Atlantic Avenue, the City has embarked on a project to build a new community center that, according to city staff, would cost nearly $10 million.
The 9th Council District office has launched a website about renovations to the park at imaginehoughton.com and is hosting a community meeting on Jan. 14 from 6pm to 7:30pm to seek input on the new center’s design. The meeting, according to the website, will be held at the existing community center.
In September, the Long Beach City Council awarded a $1.3-million contract to Culver City-based Studio Pali Fekete Architects to solicit public input and design the new center.
While city officials have said that preserving a portion of the existing historical center is still on the table, local landmark preservationists are still troubled that the project calls for demolishing the entire complex, including the clubhouse that has Spanish-revival-style architecture dating back to the 1930s.
The Long Beach Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit education and advocacy group for preserving historical and architectural resources and neighborhoods in Long Beach, has recently launched a “call to action” to save the historic buildings.
In the 1920s, three acres of a farm owned by the family of Col. Sherman Otis Houghton, a famed landowner and early American pioneer who was elected to the United States Congress after serving in the Civil War, was donated to the City for the purposes of building a park in north Long Beach.
In 1930, the City built a clubhouse that was designed by George W. Ferris, who worked in the city engineer’s office, according the Heritage Foundation.
“It is an excellent example of Spanish Revival style architecture with many Moorish details and contains an auditorium framed by a curvilinear moulding, recessed arches with painted heraldic motifs on the side walls, and a ceiling with elaborately carved wooden beams,” according to post about the community center on the Heritage Foundation’s website.
In 1946, local architect Harold Wildman added a structure with American colonial Revival-style architecture to the complex, according to the Heritage Foundation. A recreation center for Jordan High School students by the Long Beach firm of John Duffy and Leo Dreher was attached to the original clubhouse in 1959. This was designed in a mid-century modern mode with large expanses of glass windows.
The Heritage Foundation expresses concerns that “all of these structures are facing demolition and replacement by a new building in the near future.”
According to a city staff report, the City Council appropriated $3 million from one-time surplus funds in the Fiscal Year 2014 budget during former 9th District Councilmember Steven Neal’s term for the design phase of the project, however it was determined that only $1.3 million would be needed for the design. The rest of the appropriated funding would be used for construction, city staff said.
Staff notes that past studies and inspection of the center have concluded that, in order to better meet the needs of the community, “a full replacement” of the center is “preferred” rather than a renovation.
According to the staff report, the entire project, including design, environmental studies and construction, is expected to cost $10 million, however funds for the construction phase have “not yet been identified,” city staff notes.
In addition, city staff recommend designing a “similar-sized building, with shared spaces that can be programmed in a variety of ways and transformed easily into spaces of varying size,” the staff report states. “The final design will need to efficiently house staff and support services, improve site safety and sustainably provide for the needs of the community.
Louise Ivers, an architectural historian and professor emeritus for California State University, Dominguez Hills, however, said she disagrees with findings from a report on the architectural history of the center done by Galvin Reservation Associates that states a portion of the center was built in the 1980s, making the architecture less historically significant. She also said that the report fails to mention that the clubhouse’s original architect was responsible for building other notable structures throughout the city.
Though the historical buildings have been left in disrepair, they should be restored, at least the original 1930 clubhouse, instead of demolished, Ivers said.
“The entire structure, all three parts of it, have been totally neglected and allowed to fall into ruin,” she said. “They’re in really bad shape, but they could be restored. Particularly we want to see the 1930 part restored. It’s a great example of Spanish Revival style! What I’ve seen of [the City’s] plan is they want to demolish the whole thing! What we’re trying to do is educate them about the importance of the architecture.”
Ted Williams, spokesperson for the 9th Council District office, however, said that the design of the new community center is still in the works and it has yet to be determined whether the project includes keeping a portion or all of the historical structures.
He said groups concerned about the demolition of the historical buildings should give their input during the upcoming community meeting, adding that the project will include a lengthy design process and won’t break ground until at least 2017.
“In terms of those organizations that want to have certain views, we suggest they come on down and talk about some of the things that could potentially happen for the community center,” Williams said.
However, he pointed out that the new community center is being built to meet the needs of residents, students and senior citizens who “actually use the center on a daily basis,” adding that the existing complex doesn’t “capture the spirit” of the community anymore.
Williams said, so far, the City has already held three meetings, one for Jordan High School students, one for senior citizens and another for local business owners, to provide input. The meetings in addition to a recent “Breakfast with Santa” event, he said, drew a combined attendance of about 90 people.
Some new ideas gathered from the meetings were the need for an indoor gym since the closest gym in the area is miles away and the need for a computer lab for senior citizens who lack Internet access, Williams said.
“There have been a lot of good suggestions,” he said. “We’re excited about it, because this is a way we can cater to our residents! We’re going to do any[thing] and everything on our end to get as many residents to these meetings as possible to participate in this process.”
