Calabasas Rec Center’s Elite Setting Makes Room for Populist Spirit : Laps of Luxury

With its ample amenities and lakeside scenery, it would be easy to confuse the Edmund D. Edelman Tennis and Swim Center in Calabasas with a private country club.

These days, however, what with scores of splashing children, long lines at the snack bar and a scarcity of lounge chairs, the center appears to be anything but elitist.

In 1994, when the city of Calabasas bought the private club from federal regulators and plucked it from foreclosure, city officials envisioned a recreational facility that would be plush but most definitely public.

Two years later, many center regulars say Calabasas has succeeded marvelously--that in an era of public services going private, it is an example of government taking over a private enterprise and running it even better.

But not everyone is thrilled with the center’s populist success. Some, like Agoura Hills parent Beth Novak, fear that overcrowding and an onslaught of outsiders could spoil the comfortable environment.

Overuse would “take away from the ambience if too many people found out about it,” Novak said as she and a son relaxed in the shade.

Yet most seem to agree that the renovated center is yielding favorable results, so far.

“There aren’t many facilities like it in the whole county,” observed Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Director Rod Cooper.

“I think what [Calabasas] did was unique,” agrees Cal State Northridge leisure and recreation studies professor Jack Foley.

In fact, Foley ranks the Edelman center, named after the former county supervisor, as one of the top public facilities in the state. He puts the Calabasas center in a league with more expensive facilities such as the $8-million Westwood Recreation Center run by the city of Los Angeles and the $7-million Red Morton Community Center in Redwood City in Northern California.

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The Calabasas center boasts 16 lighted tennis courts (including some of the only public clay courts in Southern California), a junior Olympic-size swimming pool and two weight rooms: one for strength training, the other for cardiovascular workouts.

The center also offers a variety of classes--from ballroom dancing to guitar to bridge.

Earlier this year, the center played host to a chamber orchestra concert and a performance of Shakespeare’s “Two Gentlemen of Verona” on its sunken Center Court.

Charging for classes and monthly memberships for the use of the tennis courts and health clubs helps keep daily pool fees at $1 for children and $2 for adults. There is a waiting list for tennis memberships, which entitle users to first crack at the courts. For the public, it costs $10 a day for adults to rent a court and $5 for juniors. Rates are slightly higher on weekends.

All told, the activities together with other creative programming have helped generate a $50,000 surplus in 1995-96 from an operating budget of $1.3 million, said center manager Dan Huncke. About 125,000 people use the center annually, he estimated, including the 1,800 holding monthly memberships. The result: a democratic mix of users reflected in the Mercedes sedans next to minivans in the parking lot and, on a recent afternoon, actress Jodie Foster lounging poolside with less-luminary swimmers.

“In theory, there should be a sense of equity about services. This is the way it’s supposed to be,” said professor Foley.

As far as the city is concerned, the operation is there to stay. “We bought it, we put a lot of effort into it,” said Calabasas Director of Community Services Greg Johnson. “We intend for people to come here for years and enjoy it.”

The center was constructed more than 25 years ago by the Bechtel Corp. and Southern California Edison as part of Calabasas Park, one of the first housing tracts built in the area, long before it incorporated as a city.

Located at 23400 Park Sorrento, the club lies in an area surrounded by a man-made lake and upscale, gated communities. From its spacious, tile-roofed houses and Mediterranean landscaping to the tanned joggers exercising leisurely in midafternoon, the neighborhood exudes exclusivity. Indeed, many of its residents helped make the original country club a success in the 1970s.

More than decade later, however, the club ran into financial trouble.

A combination of factors--including proximity to homes with their own pools and tennis courts, increased competition from health clubs, and managerial problems-- eroded the club’s membership base, officials said.

After the facility changed hands, the club’s owner defaulted on loan payments in 1993 and the property was taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Soon afterward, Calabasas negotiated to buy the 8.3-acre parcel for $1.7 million in cash.

Recalling cracked tennis courts, torn wind screening, broken lawn furniture and slimy, mosquito-infested pool water, Calabasas officials say it was not an easy task to get the property in shape.

The facility was “in very bad condition when we purchased it,” one Calabasas official said. “We spent a considerable amount of money to upgrade because the property was run down.”

It also helped that Calabasas was able to secure Proposition A county recreation funds and cash from private developers in exchange for the right to build. “We were fortunate to begin our operation without any debt,” said Calabasas City Manager Charles Cate.

Still, Foley lauds the city for resisting the temptation to simply resell the center for a quick profit. “They could have put condos up and it could have been a good moneymaker,” he said.

Instead, they offered the land for recreation space. In an area with high land prices, Foley said, it’s a major commitment of funds. “It shows they are committed to building [a sense of] community there,” he said.

The resulting environment makes the center a big draw from around the San Fernando Valley. A survey by pool management last year found that 35% of respondents who used the Tennis and Swim Center were from Calabasas, with the rest from the West Valley and nearby areas such as Agoura Hills, Topanga Canyon and the Conejo Valley.

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Many Calabasas pool-goers seem to have no problem with the notion of nonresidents using the pool. But one woman speculated that, with the growing popularity of the pool, resentment toward outsiders would build. “The West Valley is about all we can handle,” said the woman, who declined to be named.

Others, meanwhile, cautioned about drawing any firm conclusions from the Calabasas experience. “I think there’s a problem with generalizing about government innovation from a case where you have an upper-middle-class community,” said Bruce A. Wallin, professor of political science at Northeastern University in Boston.

Calabasas can afford to do innovative things but most cities and towns are struggling to get the resources to provide basic services, Wallin said. For them, “innovation is a luxury.”

But money isn’t the only factor. Time, too, is a precious commodity enjoyed by many Calabasas residents. “People here are supportive and involved,” said Judy Belcher, who was joining friends at the center recently. “You look in certain areas, people are working and don’t have time to support a pool.”

The facility, meanwhile, continues to draw residents such as Susan Tafreshi, a software programmer who lived in Bel-Air before she became a West Hills resident. “I didn’t see this in Bel-Air,” she said, adding that the center is an example of what makes Calabasas so attractive to families.

“It’s one of the few cities in Los Angeles [County] that does things for the community,” Tafreshi said.

Another contented patron, Hernando Cordoba, a retired Calabasas resident, agreed, saying the center is evidence that “government has a place in improving the quality of life of its citizens.”