OXNARD : Mock Groundbreaking Ceremony Held for Delayed Gym

It looked like a groundbreaking ceremony, complete with shovel, banners and chairs designated for Oxnard City Council members.

But the mock ceremony Wednesday was an April Fools’ Day joke staged by an Oxnard community leader who is tired of waiting for a new gym to be built in Colonia Memorial Park.

An 11,000-square-foot gym, with a 200-seat basketball court, was to have been finished by this summer. But construction has not begun, and now completion is not expected until this fall.

“The delays are frustrating for the community,” said Carlos Aguilera, chairman of La Colonia Neighborhood Council. “Young people need recreation to occupy their time.”

Except for one curious onlooker, no one showed up for the event--not even City Council members, who weren’t really invited.

Instead of making a speech, Aguilera gathered a dozen children together to play a mock game of basketball on the grass in front of the empty chairs designated for the absent council members.

Gary Davis, director of Oxnard’s Parks and Recreation Department, acknowledged that the gym is behind schedule.

“It took longer than expected to get all the plans and specifications done,” he said. Then the City Council rejected all construction bids last July, mainly because it was unclear whether they met federal requirements for minority and female hiring. But last month, the City Council accepted an $848,000 bid to build the facility from Frank Schipper Construction Co. of Santa Barbara. After the contract is formally awarded this month, the company would have eight months to complete the project.

“The good news is that it’s finally happening, and this fall we’ll have a gym,” Davis said.

But that’s not soon enough, according to Aguilera. “When they were ready to build the library, they found a way to do it right away,” he said.