San Fernando Valley : Reprieve Doesn’t Ease Park Closure Fears
As the mercury rose in Sylmar on Wednesday, a three-month reprieve for county parks threatened with closure brought no sighs of relief from park users and employees. Visions of a future marred by thigh-high grass, empty swimming pools and no place to play intruded on the hot summer day.
“People have been calling for swimming lessons, and I was telling them the pool might not be open,” said Mel Springer, sitting in a sparse office at El Cariso Park in Sylmar, which is on the closure list.
“If we close, they’ll dump the water and let the lifeguards go. It’s too bad. We didn’t hire them all that long ago.”
The County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday directed the Department of Parks and Recreation to transfer money budgeted for the department’s recreation programs to the upkeep of 30 parks and swimming pools the department had planned to close July 1.
The move will allow the parks to stay open until September 17--but they may have to close after that. . . .
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