By Nick Diamantides
Staff Writer
After about a year of just sitting vacant, the building once used for the Police Athletic League (PAL) North Long Beach program is back in use as a recreational facility for youth. About 100 people of all ages showed up for the grand opening of what is now called the North Long Beach Community Center last Saturday.
Located at 2311 East South Street— between Cherry Avenue and Paramount Boulevard— the building encompasses 25,640 square feet and contains a large auditorium surrounded by classrooms.
Various city officials, including Vice Mayor and 9th District City Councilman Val Lerch, were on hand for the grand opening. “We originally built this for the PAL program,” Lerch said, adding that the program thrived in North Long Beach for many years, but, last year, due to the ongoing budget crisis, the city could no longer afford to fund the program. “So we had this beautiful building that had been the center for youth activities not being utilized for anything and going to waste,” he said.
Lerch explained that he and his staff worked with City Manager Pat West and Phil Hester, director of the city department of Parks, Recreation and Marine, to come up with a way to use the building for youth activities once again. “We have very few facilities in North Long Beach for our youth,” he said. “This is a safe place where they can come after school, have fun, learn, watch movies and get out of the rain.”
“This is a great thing for North Long Beach,” Hester said. “It was unfortunate that the PAL program had to close down, but a lot of people don’t know that it was our staff that was running the program on a day-to-day basis.” He explained that the police department was very active in the program too, sending officers to interact with the kids, but park and recreation staff did most of the work of organizing various aspects of the program and supervising the youngsters.
Hester explained how the city can afford to restart youth recreational activities in the building in spite of budget cutbacks. “We are moving the after-school program that is already funded at Davenport Park into this building,” he said. “The city is already paying the rent for this building, so moving the Davenport program here is not going to increase costs.”
Hester added that Davenport Park, nearby on Paramount Boulevard, does not have an indoor recreation facility and all the park staff and materials have been moved to the building on South Street. He said he anticipates that more kids will participate in the program now because the cold, damp weather of winter discourages some youngsters from outdoor activities, but the recreation program will remain in the building even when summer arrives. “I don’t want to jump back and forth,” he said. “I want the kids to always know the facility will be here.”
The North Long Beach Community Center will be open 3pm to 6pm Monday through Friday, and noon to 4pm on Saturday.
Lerch said the city is paying $37,000 a month in rent for the building. “It is being paid for through the revenue generated by bus stops that have advertising on them,” he said.
Dave San Jose, president of the Coolidge Triangle Neighborhood Association and leader of the North Long Beach Future Generation Youth Center, said he is very glad to see the building back in use as a youth recreational center. “This is fantastic,” he said. “Anything we do for kids— especially small kids— is part of the answer to the problems our society faces.” He explained that offering organized recreational activities to youngsters can keep many of them from engaging in criminal activity. “Having a place where kids can play and be safe and feel comfortable is a very good thing,” he added.
Rickie Thomas, community services supervisor for the department of Parks, Recreation and Marine, listed some of the things the community center will offer. “We will have homework help, youth sports, games, and tournaments,” he said. “During the summer, we will have field trips, and we are looking to have a youth exercise class.” He added that the youngsters will be able to play video games, Wii, pool and ping-pong, as well as watch movies inside the building and play basketball on the courts behind the building. Contract classes, including dance, are possible in the future. “We hope to add a computer lab sometime in the future,” Thomas added. “We are just starting and looking to grow.”
