12 Years and $2 Million Later, Sunland-Tujunga Finally Opens Its Y

After a dozen years of trying, Sunland-Tujunga finally got its community recreation center Saturday when a crowd of 300 residents and dignitaries, including a couple of congressmen, turned out to dedicate the Verdugo Hills Family YMCA.

It was a “glorious day” for the community, which now can offer its children “a positive place for growing up, in the kind of environment that seems so often lacking today,” Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs said.

Complete with a letter of congratulations from President Bush, the afternoon ceremony took place in front of the beige, ranch-style building with redwood trim that looks out on the San Gabriel Mountains and the brushy Verdugo hills.

A parade of speakers, including Reps. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) and Carlos J. Moorhead (R-Glendale), lauded the volunteers who invested countless hours and who twisted arms to raise more than $600,000 in private funds for the center.

Some were called forward for plaques or medallions. Judi Hunter, executive director of the Y, invited others in the crowd to thank themselves “because you know who you are.”

Tours Inside

When the speeches were over, the crowd toured the inside of the Y, and the staff stayed busy signing up new members.

The $2-million complex at 6840 Foothill Blvd., which includes a large outdoor swimming pool and a fitness center, will actually be a branch of the Crescenta-Canada Family YMCA, which stepped in to supervise the project in 1980.

Officials said they hope to buy more equipment and install basketball courts in a second phase of development.

Until now, Sunland-Tujunga had a storefront Y--where people could sign up for programs run in borrowed halls and church basements.

Among other things, the Y will reduce the shortage of day care that exists in the area. The Sunland-Tujunga Y has been providing day care for 24 children at a local church.

But the new center will care for 72 children 2 1/2 to 5 years old, with recreation under the same roof. The parent “does not have to feel guilty that their kid isn’t having extracurricular activities,” said Taryn Fell, director of preschool programs.

There will be ballet, gymnastics and swimming, she said, and the child “will be walked by his teacher to each program.”

The center has endured many delays and reversals since the 1970s, when local Rotary Club members began talking about the need for a community recreation center.

Although only 20 miles from downtown Los Angeles, Sunland-Tujunga has a down-home, small-town air, and a stronger sense of place than many areas of Los Angeles. But adequate youth recreation was something it didn’t have, according to local activists, including Gladys Anderson.

‘Unique Community’

She called Sunland-Tujunga “a very unique community . . . where people care about each other. . . . I felt very strongly that if there was a Y here, it would be such a full community because we have a park, and we have ample schools.”

By 1978, local leaders had obtained nearly $1.2 million in federal Housing and Urban Development block grant funds from the city of Los Angeles, and the next year the land was purchased for $345,000.

But several obstacles emerged, including strings attached to the HUD money.

For one thing, it was uncertain whether the center would attract enough low-income patrons for HUD funds to be used. And HUD’s labor and wage requirements would have strained the project’s budget.

Two years ago, the Crescenta-Canada Family YMCA, which had been brought in to manage the project, returned the HUD money to the city. But the city helped out by leasing the land to the Y for $1 and by contracting for $850,000 in services for low- and middle-income patrons.

One happy participant Saturday was Vito Latino, who came in the blue uniform of the service station he owns.

Widely credited with being the first proponent of the recreation center, Latino said he feels a surge of pride when he passes the building.

Latino said he thinks that “ ‘Hey, I started that mess,’ and it feels good, and I pat myself on the back.”