Creating a Centerpiece : New Community Building Is a ‘Pretty Neat Place to Be’

Lakewood has a number of city parks that are newer than Mayfair. But with its 50-meter swimming pool, five ball diamonds and covered picnic area, Mayfair Park is regarded as the star of the bunch.

And now the city’s 18.5-acre park, at South Street and Clark Avenue, is about to get a $2.9-million community center befitting its flagship status.

The center, which will open to the public Saturday, features striking Mediterranean architecture, tile roofs and lofty rooms with big windows to take full advantage of natural light.

Dave Rodda, director of recreation and community services, said the new 14,000-square-foot center will outshine any other recreation facility in the city and will “make an impact statement” for Mayfair, which is used by 250,000 people a year.

Built by Los Angeles County a few years before Lakewood incorporated in 1954, the park has long played host to the city’s best-attended community events--the Fourth of July fireworks extravaganza and the four-day Pan American Festival held in May.

The new center’s main entrance is marked by an elegant colonnade, and the beige and tan building features recessed windows and decorative tile plaques of blue and beige. The center includes a large activity room complete with mirrors and a portable ballet barre for dance classes, along with a swimming pavilion with locker and shower rooms and a first aid station.

Perhaps the most striking part of the center is the Sierra Room, with its 29-foot-high ceiling decorated with hand-dyed translucent nylon banners in hues of orange, peach and blue. Mirrored copper plaques add to the effect.

Rodda said the design, by Laguna Niguel architect John Bates, is intended to make the building not only functional for city recreation programs, but attractive enough to entice businesses and residents to rent the facility for meetings, conferences and seminars, as well as private gatherings such as birthday parties and wedding receptions. The Activities Room, which is the largest of the three, can accommodate 160 people for a banquet and 342 in theater-style seating.

“The question was how do you take a pool that’s pretty institutional and build around it and give it a softer look so that people will come in and say this is a pretty neat place to be, whether for recreation or a private group or meeting,” he said.

In the pool pavilion, the check-in desk and cashier’s area will be portable so that when the room is not serving as a pool reception area it can be cleared for other uses. The center, with its peach, blue and gray interior color scheme, also features pantries for serving catered foods. There are no cooking facilities, however, and alcohol is forbidden.

For youngsters who flock to Mayfair Park during the summer for swimming, recreation classes and sports, there is a special area for a McDonald’s hamburger concession that has operated at the park for six years during pool season.

The new center, named for longtime City Atty. John Sanford Todd who helped incorporate the city, will be dedicated at an invitational luncheon Friday. The public opening will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday when there will be guided tours, food and displays by community groups.

The building is part of an overall $3.9-million upgrade of Mayfair Park that is expected to be completed by 1993.

To make room for the new community center, obsolete recreation buildings from the 1950s and 1960s were demolished. The new center will allow the city to offer more activities at Mayfair Park, including relocating a gymnastics program that was too large for the old buildings.

“They were one-story stucco, nondescript buildings,” with no access for the handicapped, Rodda said.

As part of the overall improvements at Mayfair Park, a flood control channel that divided the park was covered last year. Part of the new space was used for parking, and the rest was topped with turf to add an acre of recreational space.

Future improvements at the park include beautification of the picnic area, installation of a play area for children and creation of small family picnic units. Existing game courts will be refurbished and a major ball field on the south end of the park will be lighted.

Rodda said the new center will not only call attention to Mayfair Park but will serve as a striking entrance to the northern part of the city. “Clark and South to me is like an entry to Lakewood,” he said. “It’s a significant area, and it gives it a major impact when you see that building.”

City officials say that because of fiscal constraints, the center may be the last major city building constructed this century.

June Anderson, city project manager for the building, said she is happy to see the project coming to fruition after two years of planning and construction.

“I’m glad it turned out as well as it did, and I hope the community feels that way,” she said. “A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into it and I hope it will be a colorful, comfortable and happy place to be.”