Temporary OMBAC Buildings Called Eyesore : Plan to Spruce Up Robb Field Rankles Some

The playing surfaces at Robb Field take a beating. They are used year-round for rugby, soccer, softball and flag football.

So when the Old Mission Beach Athletic Club offered to build a multipurpose field and refurbish another one, which would ease the wear and tear on the existing fields, the Ocean Beach Recreation Council jumped at the opportunity.

“The donation would help us tremendously,” said Rene Regalot, center director of Robb Field, which is directly south of the San Diego River floodway in Mission Bay Park. Regalot said the field--consisting of 77 acres that includes four softball fields, a weight room, and tennis, handball and basketball courts--is one of the most heavily used athletic parks in the city.

In exchange for the $250,000 in improvements, OMBAC is asking permission to move two used buildings to Robb Field.

The buildings were purchased for $25,000 in October from San Diego State University. OMBAC wants to lease one of them as a rugby storage area. The other, said OMBAC officials, would be dedicated for use as a community center.

The swap, however, has rankled some members of the Ocean Beach community.

Removed the Buildings

Since OMBAC was forced to remove the buildings from San Diego State immediately, it forged a last-minute agreement with the city to put them at Robb Field temporarily. Normally, the buildings could not have been moved to city facilities without full approval from the City Council, a sometimes lengthy process.

Now, some residents say they are upset that the buildings are on the eastern side of the park, near the tennis courts and to the right of a nearby sign along Sunset Cliffs Boulevard that says “Welcome to Ocean Beach.”

“That area is the entrance to our community as well as being the regional park,” said Rich Grosch, former chairman of the OB planning council. “I think we need to find some way to minimize that visual impact.

“They (the buildings) are extremely high, extremely bulky . . . some people would rather see trees when they go to a park.”

George Loveland, director of city parks and recreation, acknowledges that “nobody is happy” with the location and appearance of the buildings.

“At the present, there are conflicting opinions in the community as to whether we should accept the buildings or move them to a different location,” Loveland said. “The recreation council is fully in favor (of keeping the buildings in their current location) while the planning group is opposed. But I think we can work out all of those concerns.”

Ed Riel, chairman of the OB planning committee, said he thought the controversy would die down if the buildings, as well as the new fields being offered by OMBAC, to the western side of the park.

‘More Practical Use’

“A more practical use of the money would be to spend it at the west side of the park, where the women’s playing fields are located,” Riel said. “That way, the community would feel like they are getting something out of this.”

Pat Boyl, chairman of OMBAC’s rugby committee, said his organization has been playing the sport at Robb Field for 18 years on the eastern side of the park. That’s where they want the buildings and new fields, he said.

“We have offered a gift to the city with minimum strings attached to it,” Boyl said. “It’s something that has been met with 100% support from the Robb Field sporting community, the recreation people and the city.”

Boyl also accused Grosch and Riel of trying to turn community sentiment against the deal with OMBAC by objecting to improvements on the eastern side of the park.

“I find it highly irregular that Rich Grosch and Mr. Riel should attempt to subvert the process in a manner that appears to be an exercise in attempting to extract by political pressure something from us that wasn’t offered,” Boyl said. “If we were forced to move the buildings, we might not want to go to the additional expense of building new fields.”

Riel, however, said OMBAC failed to follow the proper procedure for storing the buildings on the land by bypassing the Ocean Beach Planning Board for approval. The planning board is a organization that advises city on development in the Ocean Beach area.

Boyl said OMBAC has acted in “good faith.”

“OMBAC didn’t just drop the building in Robb Field. We consulted city officials.”

Feelings Hurt

“Some people have gotten their feelings hurt, which has prevented them from judging the project fairly,” Boyl continued. “They are creating a number of excuses as to why the building should not be there. The leading one is they don’t like the looks of the buildings. They are unwilling to see how the buildings might look if they were permanent.”

George Loveland said the city gave OMBAC temporary permission to relocate the buildings to Robb Field.

“OMBAC saw an opportunity to purchase a couple of modular buildings from SDSU, but they had to act quickly because of the time constraints,” Loveland said. “They received permission to store the building on city property. To protect the city, OMBAC was required to put up a bond to cover the cost of removing the buildings in case the proposal doesn’t pass.

“The buildings have the potential to be a very positive thing to the Ocean Beach community and athletic programs at Robb Field,” Loveland said. “The only issue right now is exactly how and under what conditions.”

The City Council’s Public Facilities and Recreation Committee is expected to make a recommendation on what to do with the proposed deal with OMBAC at a public hearing Jan. 27.