FULLERTON : Arts Festival Victim of City Budget Cuts

The annual Fullerton Lively Arts Festival will not take place this September, and fees for other Community Services Department events and programs have been raised as part of budget-balancing moves.

To cut almost $80,000 from its fiscal 1992 budget, the department canceled the Lively Arts Festival in Hillcrest Park and ended the longstanding practice of sponsoring dances for young adolescents, said Susan Hunt, department director. Hunt said she hopes schools will pick up the slack for the popular arts event.

For Community Services Department events that will continue, fees are up and hours are down. The Fullerton Museum Center is now closed on Tuesdays, and the Fullerton Multi-Service Senior Center will offer breakfast only two days a week instead of three.

Other changes:

* The entry fee for the Independence Park gymnasium and the Independence Park pool for adults will be increased from $1 to $2. An earlier plan to close the Independence Park pool on Saturdays is on hold.

* The non-resident fee for special classes offered by the department will be raised from $3 to $5.

* City-run playgrounds and wading pools will be open for only six weeks this summer instead of the traditional eight.

* The fee for the Fullerton Junior Tennis Club will remain at $66, but the program will only last five weeks instead of six.

* Fees for the city’s summer camp and toddler day care programs will increase.

The city is also studying whether to charge admission fees for the popular display of fireworks at the high school stadium on Independence Day.

A previously announced plan to shut down the Independence Park pool on Saturdays moved one resident to take up a guitar and sing a song of protest a recent City Council meeting.

“But when budget cutting, please find a way to keep the pool open all year, every day,” warbled senior citizen Virginia Neal.

Neal was greeted with affectionate chuckles but may have the last laugh. The Community Services Department now plans to reduce pool hours on a daily basis.

“We decided to work with the swimmers,” Hunt said.