Fire’s Scars Are Gone as Watts Gym Reopens

To the 600 people gathered inside the refurbished 1950s-vintage gym, the freshly polished oak floor boards, shining orange rims and white-washed brick walls signified more than an ordinary neighborhood hangout.

As one man said, for the kids who live around Success and 103rd streets, the one-court Will Rogers Memorial Park gym is their Pacific beaches, their Santa Monica Mountains, their Disneyland.

That’s why the walls of this rebuilt gym rocked at midday Saturday with the strains of Amazing Grace, singer Michael Young’s soulful national anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance, just before Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn participated in cutting the ribbon symbolizing the rebirth of what many consider a vital neighborhood resource.

Scoring Again

The sparkling, rebuilt gym, quiet since a March 9 arson fire heavily damaged the interior, is ready once more to give youngsters an alternative to street gangs.

“I got the first basket,” shouted Marcine Shaw, a senior deputy to Hahn, who took a moment out from setting up chairs and laying out oatmeal cookies and almond cake to aim a basketball through the hoop.

“This place is a monument,” Shaw said, catching her breath. “When it burned, it was like everyone had their own house burned.”

The $700,000 restoration was financed by private donations, state bond money, a federal community development grant and discretionary funds from the county parks budget.

Tribute to Hahn

A parade of speakers praised the supervisor for the fast turn-around time in reopening the gym. The benedictions included prayers for the health of the 68-year-old official, who suffered a stroke two years ago, and the crowd rose to its feet when the 10-term supervisor rolled his wheelchair to a specially set up microphone.

“This is a symbol for Watts,” Hahn said, “that we can rebuild. Look at this floor. Look at this stage. Everything is better than it was before.”

But for some, better is not quite good enough. Although there are about a dozen county-operated recreation areas in the Watts-Willowbrook neighborhood, a number of people complain that there just aren’t enough organized activities--something that county park officials acknowledge.

“Our problem is that because of budget restraints, we’re trying to work with the private sector to get funding for special programs,” said George Ichiyama, a regional recreation director for the county parks department.

Part-time park employee Rosetta Woods would like the nearby outdoor pool to remain open year-round. She said there should be more organized park-based activities for youths who don’t play basketball.

Many do not know

Woods wants to see more effort at getting young children into organized recreation, before they organize themselves into gangs. “A lot of them in gangs don’t know this (gymnasium) exists,” said Woods, who brought along eight of her nine children to the ceremony.

Ted Watkins, director of the Watts Labor Community Action Committee, had nothing but praise for Hahn’s role in organizing the renovation. “Not only does he do things for us,” Watkins said, “but he allows us to do things for ourselves.” Watkins’ own committee organized much of the restoration and improvements.

The picture on Saturday differed vastly from how the gym looked March 9, when the fire raced through the structure in 15 minutes. Six months ago, the brick walls were chipped and fire-blackened. The intense heat had melted the plastic from the backboards, twisted the rims of the hoops and popped the bulbs in the overhead lights.

Antwoine Holmes, 13, lives across the street from the 27-acre Will Rogers Memorial Park and its tennis courts, baseball diamond, playground and picnic tables. He went to the old gym almost every day, except on rainy days when the leaking roof made it impossible to play ball.

After the fire, Holmes said, “We went and played on the sidewalk and on outside courts. It don’t compare.”

“You could be out in the street gang-banging, but with the gym it gives people something to do,” he added.

After the formal ribbon-cutting, the chairs were cleared for an all-star game pitting former local high school players against coaches and current and former professional players, including Jamaal Wilkes.

But for Antwoine Holmes and his friends, the tip-off that mattered happened later--when the all stars left. That’s when the neighborhood kids started shooting the basketballs they’d been carrying all day.