Virginia Park Expansion: No Gym, More Space, Less Parking

By Jorge Casuso

Tuesday, July 13 -- There will be no gymnasium at Virginia Park and plans for a wading pool are evaporating, but a larger community center and lots of open space seem the order of the day.

Those were the directions given to city staff and their consultants during a two-and-a-half hour community meeting Monday night to discuss the expansion of Virginia Park in the Pico neighborhood.

The expansion will add the 2.9 acre concrete lot on the corner of Pico and Cloverfield Boulevards and a three-quarter acre site at 2105 and 2115 Pico to the existing 5.8-acre park.

The working group, joined by two dozen members of the community, said they wanted the park to be "safe… family oriented… flexible… inviting to all people…" and sensitive to the neighborhood's racial diversity.

"The Pico neighborhood is the most low-income segment of the city and also the most diverse," said Oscar de la Torre. "We have to be sensitive to that."

The group was presented with three configurations for the expanded park, which included options to add new structures and move existing ones. A plan to divide the park with a strip of parking spaces, however, was quickly nixed.

But parking, to the chagrin of many community members, took up much of the discussion, which focused on how to provide spaces for the Saturday morning Farmers Market on the existing Pico/Cloverfield parking lot. A survey has shown that the community wants to keep the market, but there is concern the weekly event is driving the need for as many as 220 parking spaces.

"Why build an entire parking lot for something that happens for two hours once a week?" said working group member Susan Cloke, who also sits on the Recreation and Parks Board.

"It's something we absolutely have to look at," said Karen Ginsberg, assistant director of the city's department of Community and Cultural Affairs. "It needs to be re-looked at. We need to look at creative solutions to keep the market."

The community also called for a larger youth center, instead of a gymnasium, noting that nearby Memorial Park already has a gym. The group directed consultants to explore the possibility of a center of no more than 20,000 square feet. The Thelma Terry Center, which is 5,500 square feet, will likely be included as part of the new structure.

"We need a youth center," said 15-year-old Cindy Cruz, who is a member of the working group. "Young people turn to violence because they have nothing to turn to."

The expansion, which will include an entrance on Pico, is slated to cost $5.5 million over the next three years.

The consultants will return to the group with a mission statement and rough sketches at a community meeting Thursday, July 29 at Virginia Park, 2200 Virginia Ave. For more information call 458-8320.