At Center Stage

His name was not the only one emblazoned on the new youth center in Watts; he shared ribbon-cutting duties with at least half a dozen others, and he even yielded his spot on the speaking program to a longtime friend.

But former Mayor Tom Bradley, making his first announced public appearance since suffering a heart attack and a stroke last spring, was clearly the star of an emotion-packed dedication ceremony Monday.

Noticeably thinner and frail, but dapper as ever in a charcoal-navy pinstripe suit, Bradley greeted former constituents warmly. He chatted animatedly with fellow politicians and with representatives of the Milken Family Foundation, which helped foot the bill for the sleek, newly opened center the former mayor launched several years ago.

He grew silent and reserved only when the television cameras trained on him, and he shook his head resolutely when a reporter asked him to comment on the upcoming mayor’s race.

Then, when it was his turn to mount the makeshift stage set up in the street outside the Tom Bradley/Milken Family Youth Center, the audience of students, community leaders and public officials rose in a thunderous standing ovation.

Tears welled in the former mayor’s eyes as his longtime friend and former aide Bill Elkins took the microphone on Bradley’s behalf, noting that Bradley was “fretting because his speech is not back” but praising his “courage and determination” for getting him so far in the few months since he suffered a stroke after heart bypass surgery in April.

It was part of an extraordinarily warm tribute on a cold, gray day for the grandson of slaves, whose skills at building a multiracial coalition catapulted him into history as the city’s first African American mayor.

Bradley quickly regained the trademark, nearly expressionless composure he had exhibited during an unprecedented 20 years at the top of Los Angeles politics.

Mayor Richard Riordan said it is easy to see the evidence of Bradley’s efforts to rebuild Watts and help the youth of the community, and community leader “Sweet Alice” Harris praised Bradley as “the man who always had his door open . . . who was never too busy to listen to us.”

Harris was among others at the dedication who have worked long and hard to rebuild their community since it exploded in flames and rioting 31 years ago.

“We want to show off today,” enthused Harris, the mistress of ceremonies and founder of Parents of Watts after the 1965 riots.

The three-story, 10,300-square-foot youth center on Century Boulevard near Central Avenue boasts a gymnasium, weight room, high-tech homework center with tutors, and a rooftop deck. Multicolored balloons festooned its hallways, and bands, drill teams and music and dance groups from neighborhood schools helped celebrate its opening.

Dignitaries included former football great Roosevelt Grier, City Councilman Rudy Svorinich Jr., Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Carson) and Riordan, who told Bradley, “I’m proud to be your successor.”

The center’s opening was proof, area pastor Reginald Pope said, “that dreams deferred do not necessarily mean dreams denied,” a reference to the five-year delay in getting the building open.

Built in 1990 with the help of a Bradley-initiated, $1.5-million bequest from the Milken foundation, the youth center’s opening was threatened when the nonprofit organization that was to operate it ran into financial troubles. The City Council got things rolling when it arranged for help from the Community Development Department and the Community Redevelopment Agency.

“This building is here because of the vision of this man,” Elkins said as Bradley stood at his side onstage.

Lowell Milken, representing his family’s foundation, agreed.

“While today’s dedication is an honor for us, the real honor, the real tribute is to Tom Bradley,” he told the enthusiastic audience before turning to the former mayor and adding, “You’re truly a great man.”