SEAL BEACH : Funds Sought for Improving Parks

Jack Osteen, director of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, is quick to admit that his division is the low man on the municipal totem pole.

Because of budget cuts this year, his department has had to eliminate or scale back all operations and programs that are not self-supporting, and the new fiscal year that begins July 1 offers no prospect of improving the city’s 13 parks.

Overspending in recent years combined with the recession’s impact on tax revenues have forced Seal Beach to make drastic budget cuts. The city may have to eliminate entire departments and/or increase user fees to stay afloat.

So with the city in dire straits and aging equipment deteriorating at several parks, service and civic organizations and residents have been raising money to refurbish the parks.

Residents in the College Park neighborhood, for instance, raised $30,000 to upgrade Heather Park in April. The 1.6-acre park now sports bright yellow-and-blue plastic swings, slides and monkey bars instead of the old, worn wooden equipment.

“We just knew in these times that all cities are suffering and . . . we didn’t like the way so many parks are getting run-down,” said Janet Sork, president of the Seal Beach Junior Women’s Club.

The group recently held a lasagna dinner and auction that raised about $10,000 for refurbishment of the Tot Lot at the base of the Seal Beach Pier and additional money for the upgrade of Marina Park. Both facilities need new playground equipment and access for the handicapped.

Osteen said residents and local organizations have always supported the parks, but only in about the last year have the groups become almost the sole source of money for park improvements.

Edison Park, which at 10 acres is one of Seal Beach’s largest parks, is also in need of new equipment. The dingy, gray-steel playground equipment is more than a decade old, Osteen said.

However, it remains to be seen whether the park will be upgraded. “It is all up to the fund raising,” he said.