Club’s Coup : Santa Clarita OKs Group’s Plans for Recreation Buildings

The Santa Clarita City Council has agreed to let the Boys and Girls Club build a clubhouse and gymnasium in Newhall Park, despite protests from area residents who say the project would generate traffic and take away valuable parkland.

Details of the agreement must still be hammered out, but the proposal approved at a council meeting Thursday night calls for the private, nonprofit Boys and Girls Club to lease a small portion of Newhall Park from the city for $1 annually for 25 years. After the lease expires, the land and building will revert to the city.

Tom Veloz, the club’s president, said the organization proposed the venture for economic reasons. Veloz said the club’s directors are confident they can raise the $1 million necessary for the building’s construction. But they doubted they could raise enough money to purchase the land, he said.

The deal benefits the city as well, because it cannot afford to replace the site’s aging buildings, which will be torn down to make way for the clubhouse and gymnasium, council members said.

The club’s proposal, debated for 6 months, forced the young council to weigh not only the practical issue of how to provide recreational facilities for youngsters, but whether it is proper for a city government to use public land to benefit a private organization.

“This is one of the toughest items we’ve faced,” said Mayor Howard P. (Buck) McKeon.

“I see this as an opportunity to use the park to its fullest capability,” said Councilman Dennis Koontz. “I don’t believe we’re giving anything away.”

Koontz, McKeon, and Councilman Carl Boyer III voted to approve the club’s proposal. Councilwoman Jo Anne Darcy abstained, saying she is unsure that the city can legally give up the land. Councilwoman Jan Heidt voted no.

Heidt said she supported an organization called Friends of Newhall Park, which said the clubhouse would create traffic problems, thereby ruining the park’s peaceful atmosphere. “I go along with the community,” she said.

In an unusual move, Boyer then asked for a second vote on the proposal. Without explanation, Darcy switched her vote, making the final tally 4 to 1 in favor of the club.

The council, trying to find an alternative location for the clubhouse, had located a potential site at Newhall Avenue and 16th Street. But, McKeon said, the 2.8-acre vacant parcel, valued at $830,000, was too costly.

Mike Daney, a member of Friends of Newhall Park, said he was shocked by the council’s action. He said parkland is scarce in Santa Clarita and should be preserved.

The gym and clubhouse will occupy 17,000 square feet, roughly 2% of the 14.7-acre park, said Jim Ventress, executive director of the club.

As part of the agreement approved Thursday, the gymnasium will be open to the public after 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, after 4 p.m. Saturdays, and during the day Sundays.

Veloz said Friday that fund raising for the project will soon begin and that the club hopes to open the facility in the fall of 1992.