Sports Complex Plan Protested in Long Beach

The heat of competition is supposed to be on the fields of play, not over them.

But in Long Beach, city officials and outdoors lovers are locked in a battle over the building of ball fields--as in softball, soccer and volleyball.

Howling, heckling groups have shouted down Long Beach city officials, accusing them of lying and conspiring to ruin their favorite park.

City officials have returned the favor, calling their critics disseminators of half-truths and outright fantasy.

At issue is a long-planned sports complex slated to be built at the north end of Long Beach’s 802-acre El Dorado Park.

Opponents of the development have painted an unsavory picture of a complex overrun by thousands of people who would slosh down beer, then careen through city streets with drunken abandon.

City Councilman Les Robbins, a proponent whose district includes the park, is so fed up with those who oppose the project that he sputters and fumes when talking about them.

“This is all bunk and hogwash,” Robbins said of the doomsday predictions. “They’ve gone door-to-door and told people we are going to build the Superdome in the park.”

Replies Ann Cantrell, who has been spearheading the fight against the ball fields: “We’re losing the last open space in Long Beach. It’s going to bring crowds of people and lots of noise. We think that the beer and wine sale is a real safety factor.”

So what’s really at stake here?

The short answer is a proposed 39.5-acre, privately operated complex that, if approved by the Long Beach City Council today, would have six softball diamonds, four soccer fields, batting cages, volleyball courts and a covered area that would be used for basketball, roller hockey or indoor soccer. Total construction cost: $7.6 million.

A standing-room-only crowd is expected for the council meeting, during which the final contractual formalities for the complex are scheduled for a vote. Opponents are organizing carloads of people to voice their disapproval.

The project was born 10 years ago when then-Mayor Ernie Kell appointed a commission to find a location suitable for an adult-oriented sports complex. The final site chosen by the commission was the northern edge of El Dorado Park.

Though a site was identified, there was no money to build it at the time. Then, in 1992, a county bond measure passed in which local officials earmarked $6.2 million for the construction of the complex.

City officials hit upon the idea of having the facility run privately, thereby allowing the $6.2 million to be used for other park and recreation projects. Last summer, Tucson, Ariz.-based Recreation Technologists was chosen to build the complex.

Ralph Cryder, the director of the city’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Marina, said that over the past decade, opponents have had many chances to voice their displeasure. But he said no one had stepped forward until now.

“This was settled so long ago,” he said. “Why now?”

Opponents say they simply did not know about the proposed complex until recently, as groundbreaking day was approaching.

If there was little opposition to the plan before, there is plenty now, including some that is charged with racial overtones.

Robbins said he and his staff have been deluged with calls in which the conversation often has led to complaints that minorities from the west side of the city would be playing in the predominantly white neighborhood where El Dorado is located.

The level of debate has sunk low enough to include caustic racial epithets.

“The N-word, ‘greasers,’ I’ve heard it all,” said Robbins angrily.

Ann Cantrell said her group--Save the Park by Sharing the Facts--does not consider it a racial issue. But she said there is a level of elitism because teams would have to pay to use the complex.

Whatever the case, there have been two raucous meetings in which Robbins was branded a liar by heckling crowds.

Opponents have contended that as many as 25,000 people could be using the complex at the same time.

Cryder replies that such a number is pure fiction, saying that on any given day there would usually be fewer than 1,000 players and spectators.

To reassure the public, Cryder said the lease agreement would have a 5,000-person cap on the number of people who could be in the complex at any given time. But he said reaching that number would be a rarity.

“They’ve made a mess out of the thing by not telling the truth,” he said.

Robbins said the sports complex will take up less than 5% of the park’s acreage.

“We own the land free and clear,” he said. “No one uses that section of the park. It’s just weeds and gopher holes.”

Which is just the way opponents of the complex want it kept.

“We’re bird people, we’re nature people,” said Karen Gilbert. “Once they build that thing, that portion of the park is going to be gone. We’re trying to save the park. We don’t care about the sports complex.”

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New Sports Complex

A proposed $7.6-million sports complex at Long Beach’s El Dorado Park has stirred up a storm of protest. Those who oppose it say it will forever change the look and feel of the area. Proponents say it is a much-needed addition to community recreation facilities.