New Recreation Center Has Twice the Space of Old One

Manhattan Beach will open its expanded ceramics studio and recreation center Saturday in Live Oak Park--and residents have termites to thank for the improvements.

Officials had planned an 800-square-foot expansion of the ceramics studio, but it turned into a complete make-over after severe structural damage caused by termites was discovered. Officials determined that it would be cheaper to build a facility than renovate the old one.

Parks and Recreation Director Jim Wolfe said the city has neglected its older buildings for too long, and has now scheduled improvements at other facilities. The city’s other community center, in Sand Dune Park, is next in line for upgrades.

“We have not typically done these kinds of improvements, but in order to preserve the facilities that we have, these are the kinds of steps we’ll have to take,” Wolfe said. “We’re looking to make improvements so that we don’t have to replace buildings.”

The $310,000 recreation center, which took two years to complete, was paid for with capital improvement money, a $35,000 state grant and money collected from developers’ fees.

The 3,100-square-foot building on Valley Drive is twice as spacious as the older facility built in 1940 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Works Project Administration.

A larger center was needed to accommodate the ceramics program, said Charlotte Marshall, consultant for the Parks and Recreation Department.

The new center includes a ceramics studio and glazing room, a meeting room for the after-school program and a business office. The new building also has air conditioning and more restrooms.

“The building is functional, but it will add more ambience to the area that wasn’t present before,” Marshall said. “There were no windows in the old building and we’ve built skylights to let in natural light.”

The recreation center is at the northern end of the nine-acre Live Oak Park, which includes the Joslyn Community Center.