Sunland-Tujunga Center : Compromise Revives Stalled YMCA Project

A proposed YMCA recreational and community center in Sunland-Tujunga, approved a decade ago but later rejected, has been given a new lease on life.

Los Angeles Community Development Department officials angered community activists and YMCA administrators last summer when they said they could not move ahead with the plans, even though $1.2 million in federal funds had been targeted for it.

The officials said the project would not qualify for the funds because it would not benefit mostly low- to middle-income people, many of whom had moved out of the area in the 10 years since CDD approval was first granted.

Besides, CDD officials had said, the $1.2 million would not be enough to build the center, and construction could cost as much as $1 million more.

But, after meetings between YMCA officials and CDD administrators that concluded Wednesday, the conflict was settled and the agency agreed to go ahead with the project, according to negotiators.

Councilman Joel Wachs, who represents the Sunland-Tujunga area, was asked to mediate.

“We are on track, all systems are go and the center will be built in the near future,” said Mark Siegel, an aide to Wachs who conducted the negotiations. “The project, for all intents and purposes, was dead a couple of months ago, but now it’s stronger than ever.”

The CDD was persuaded to move forward after YMCA officials agreed to launch an ambitious marketing campaign to attract low- to middle-income people in communities near the center, Siegel said. CDD officials had estimated the low- to middle-income population of Sunland-Tujunga at 36%. In order to qualify for federal grants, 51% of the users must fall into those income brackets.

Also, Siegel said, if more than $1.2 million is needed for design and construction, money will be solicited from the private sector.

“All I care about is that we got our center,” said Gladys Anderson, an accountant who had worked on the proposal since its conception. “Having a YMCA in our area will mean that all the young people and adults will have a place to go and be together.”

Obstacles to the project still remain, however. The federal Housing and Urban Development Department, which furnished the $1.2 million for the center, ruled two months ago that the money could not be used on projects with religious affiliations. The YMCA, a Christian organization, was selected by a citizens committee to administer the center.

Siegel said an appeal of the ruling was being prepared by CDD officials.