Work to Start Soon at Harbor City Park

Construction is expected to begin within two months on a multipurpose community building at Harbor City Park, culminating a decade-long effort to expand the park’s recreation facilities.

“What a wonderful Christmas present for the Harbor City community,” said Minnie Elliott, director of the 11-acre park at Lomita Boulevard and Frampton Avenue. “With a larger center, we will be able to accommodate more people.”

The Los Angeles Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners voted unanimously Monday to award a $1.65-million contract for the project, which will be built on the site of a basketball court next to a complex of three small park buildings. The center is scheduled to open in early 1992.

The 12,000-square-foot building is to include a gymnasium, performing stage, director’s office, two meeting rooms and a storage area. A basketball court will be constructed next to the building, city officials said.

“We could use more room, I tell you,” said Hattie Averil, head of Hi Neighbors, one of three senior citizen clubs that meets weekly at the park. “The new building will be lovely. I think it will be a real asset to the park here.”

The new center will have a maximum occupancy of 900 people, city officials said.

The park now has an office, a meeting room and a preschool room. The three buildings, constructed in 1965, have a combined capacity of 130 people, meaning large groups have had to meet at local elementary schools or at Narbonne High School. And the park’s annual Christmas program is held elsewhere because the existing facilities are too small.

“Harbor City has no community facilities,” said Niki Tennant, Harbor City deputy to Los Angeles Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, who represents the area. “I am ecstatic. They have been waiting for this for a long time.”

Various community groups, including the Harbor City Teen Post, began lobbying for a multipurpose building about 10 years ago because the community had outgrown the existing facilities. Parks officials estimate 13,000 people visit the park each week and about 600 attend meetings or classes in the existing buildings.

At Flores’ urging, the city applied several times for state parks money to build a new center, but was repeatedly turned down. Finally, in 1988, the state awarded the city a $1.5-million grant for the center. The city will also contribute so-called Quimby funds--money collected from developers to help build parks--toward construction costs.

Even with money in hand, work on the new center has been delayed because of problems with choosing a builder. The city selected a construction company in July, but was forced to drop the company because it did not meet city requirements for minority- and women-owned subcontractors, according to Dallan Zamrzla, contract administrator for the Department of Recreation and Parks.

The city requested new bids in October, but the low bidder also ran into problems with the subcontractor requirement. At its meeting Monday, the parks board voted to award the contract to Mallcraft Inc., the second lowest bidder, which has been able to meet the subcontractor requirement.

Mallcraft’s bid of $1.65 million was $115,000 above the low bid.