Cerritos : Improvements for 2 Parks

In separate actions, the City Council has hired two architects for the expansion of Liberty Park on Studebaker Road and development of a sports complex at Cerritos Regional County Park on Bloomfield Avenue.

Recreation Systems Inc., will handle drawings for the Liberty Park expansion while Heimberger-Hirsh will design the sports complex. Both firms are based in Fullerton. The city plans to spend $1.6 million to add a series of lighted racquetball, basketball, tennis and sand volleyball courts to Liberty Park as well as build an overnight campground for local youth groups and a baseball batting cage, which would be operated by a private vendor. Another $2 million has been allocated for a dozen lighted soccer, football and baseball fields at the regional park.

It will take about six months to finish the design phase in both projects, according to city spokeswoman Michele Ogle. The plans must be approved by the newly formed Parks and Recreation Commission, the Planning Commission and finally the City Council. If all goes well, Ogle said, construction at both parks will begin late next summer. Both architects will be paid a percentage of the construction costs, a figure which must still be negotiated, Ogle said.