Letters : Temescal Canyon Conference Center

The authorities and community need to support the plans for an updated facility on the Presbyterian Conference grounds in Temescal Canyon as described in your story Oct. 30, “Breaking Camp: Plans for Change in Temescal Canyon Rock ‘Cradle of the Palisades.’ ”

Nature’s wonders in the Santa Monica Mountains should be enjoyed by more than hikers. A conference center in the city’s own backyard will afford a greater number such opportunities. The Temescal Canyon entrance also limits traffic impact on Pacific Palisades streets.

For those who want to preserve historical buildings, I am sure a “museum” section can be set aside. But having been a resident at the old camp in 1936, I can vouch it was “old” even then and in need of new cabins, toilets, etc. (I never dreamed that year, as a delegate to the A.Z.A.’s 12th International Convention from New Haven, Conn., that I would live in the Palisades one day. A.Z.A. is the B’nai B’rith youth program for boys.)

We need to remember today’s yesterdays will not be the same as tomorrow’s, and plan ahead to meet the 21st Century for what everyone predicts will be the country’s major metropolis.

As chairperson for 16 home associations in the Palisades, I am aware of the need for more recreation, play and study areas in the vast park that surrounds us. Through a cooperative spirit of meeting the needs of our people, we can find agreement and give “rock,” in the subtitle of the story, a positive, as against the negative implied, when discussing this “cradle of the Palisades.”

HYMAN H. HAVES

Pacific Palisades