Building to Be Remade Into Islamic Center

After making several requirements for improvement to the grounds, the City Council this week approved conversion of a building at 5900 Ball Road into a church for those of the Islamic faith.

The renovated building and grounds will be called the Islamic Center of Cypress.

“We will serve about 400 people who live in Cypress, La Palma, Stanton, Anaheim, La Mirada, Norwalk and Cerritos,” spokesman Mohammed Y. Zaveri said.

The center will be in a single-story wood-frame building formerly used as the Korean Community Church. Before that, the structure was a bank.

Interior improvements will consist of removing existing walls and increasing the size of the prayer hall and restrooms, said Chris Kelly, the city’s community development director. She said her department also recommended several changes to the grounds.

City Council members said landscaping was a condition of granting a permit for the Islamic Center. One requirement, they said, will be the immediate planting of trees.

The council also required that the center build a 6-foot-tall boundary wall within the next three years and provide 102 paved parking spaces.

Zaveri said the major Islamic service at the center each week will be on Fridays at 12:30 p.m. “We are very happy to get this center,” he said. “It is very important for our community members.”