Parking plans

Bryce Alderton

Whether they’re dribbling a basketball on a court or kicking a ball

into a net, Surf City youth soon will have more parks to play in.

Huntington Beach officials are setting aside money from a 2000 park

bond -- and are counting on more funds from a March bond just OKd by

voters -- to build more fields and courts, making it more convenient for

kids, and their parents, to get out in the great wide open.

City leaders plan to use $1 million from a 2000 bond -- the Safe

Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air and Coastal Protection Act --

on improvements to Murdy Park Youth Sports Complex. They also want to

take $1.5 million from a 2002 version -- the California Clean Water,

Clean Air, Safe Neighborhood Parks and Coastal Protection Act -- to build

up fields adjacent to the Edison Community Center.

“Parents are driving farther distances to take their kids to

practice,” said Dave Dominguez, senior recreation supervisor for the

city.

Having fields at Murdy Park in the north and the Edison fields in the

south will make it more convenient, he said.

The City’s Community Services Commission has voted to recommend to the

City Council that funds from the 2002 bond be used to refurbish the

Edison Center sports fields.

The Edison Center has two softball fields, four full-court and four

half-court basketball courts, six three-sided outdoor racquetball courts

and four tennis courts on the 30-acre site along Magnolia Street.

“The goal is getting adult sports off Murdy and Edison and

reconfiguring the park for youth groups,” Dominguez said. “We’re planning

to move light poles, trees and walkways to create expanded open-turf

areas so youth groups have places to practice.”

Liberty Christian School’s softball teams practice for two hours every

afternoon using Murdy Park’s two softball fields. But players have to be

careful not to erase the chalked foul lines on the dirt because men’s and

women’s softball leagues practice there at 5 p.m., said Valerie Irwin,

Liberty Christian’s softball coach.

The two fields offer enough open space for Irwin’s team to practice

on, but she would like more dirt areas so her team could practice

fielding ground balls.

The refurbishment includes getting rid of turf mounds to create more

open space for a full-size soccer field and adding additional light poles

for nighttime activities, Dominguez said.

The city has hired Nuvis Landscape Architecture and Plan a Costa Mesa

firm, to design plans to renovate Murdy Park.

Planned improvements include relocating four basketball courts,

creating a parking lot, adding a 250-square-foot restroom, removing

existing dirt mounds and creating additional grass areas at the park

along Goldenwest Street between Warner Avenue and Heil Avenue.

Dominguez expects the firm will complete its plans by the end of

March. At that point, city departments such as public works, police and

fire will review them and submit any comments in time for final

revisions. Then the city will begin sending out bids for a contractor.

Construction most likely wouldn’t begin until late fall or spring

2003, Dominguez said.

“We’re trying to work around programs at the park as much as

possible,” he said.

Architects at Nuvis also designed plans for the Huntington Central

Park Sports Complex, set to open for play in the fall of 2003.

Murdy Park is one of three projects using funds from the 2000 park

bond act. The other two projects are rebuilding pools at schools in the

Huntington Beach Union High School District and replacing playground

equipment at 40 playgrounds.