Construction begins on downtown center
Andrew Glazer
COSTA MESA -- The new Downtown Recreation Facility will open in exactly
one year, parks officials said at the center’s groundbreaking ceremony
Thursday.
The 18,000-square-foot building on Anaheim Street at Lions Park will
feature a swimming pool, gymnastics room, gymnasium, offices, locker
rooms, a snack bar and a social hall, according to a floor plan.
The planning commission unanimously voted in February to replace the
existing World War II-era facility with the new gymnasium. The existing
building is not earthquake-safe.
“This facility was very old and needed some work,” said Steve Hayman, a
city administrator working on the project, pointing to the old gymnasium.
“It was no longer cost-effective.”
The entire project is expected to cost the city about $4.2 million,
Recreation Manager Stacia Mancini said.
Councilman Joe Erickson said he couldn’t wait for the new facility to
open. During a lunch reception at the old gymnasium, his 2-year-old
daughter Emma rolled around on the lacquer floor.
“She’ll be one of the kids using it,” he said. “I think she’ll really
love it.”
Pink-cheeked Emma seemed to be happy with the old gym.
“She has fun everywhere,” Erickson confessed.
Rod MacMillan -- who helped hammer nails, dig ditches and stack the
bricks of the old gymnasium -- said he is excited about the new facility.
He has lived across the street from Lions Park for nearly 40 years.
But he said he is sad the old building has to go. He said neighborhood
volunteers raised the money and constructed the gymnasium and pool almost
60 years ago.
“Kids came out here after school and dug dirt,” he said. “It was really a
symbol of what a community can do together.”
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