Groundbreaking Set on Community Center

City officials will break ground today for a $2.5-million, 14,000-square-foot community building at Granada Hills Recreation Center.

The building will include a 6,200-square-foot gymnasium for basketball and volleyball, multipurpose room, stage area, kitchen, exercise room, public restrooms, offices and storage areas, said Jackie Tatum, general manager of the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department, which operates the center.

“We had a great deal of community input on this project and we appreciate their interest and input in planning this beautiful building,” Tatum said. “It promises to be a truly outstanding recreation facility and a wonderful asset to this community.”

Councilman Hal Bernson, whose district includes the new facility, is scheduled to speak at the groundbreaking ceremony.

The facility replaces a structure destroyed in the Northridge earthquake, Tatum said.

It was designed by the Luckman Partnership, a West Hollywood-based architectural firm, said Lee Nichols, a spokesman for the department. The firm’s fee was $150,000.

A construction contract for $2.4 million was awarded by the Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners to Pasadena-based Mallcraft Construction last month, Nichols said.

“They’ve done some good work for us in the past and the department has confidence in them,” said Nichols, who cited the Greek Theater and the Alpine Recreation Center in Chinatown as examples. Completion is scheduled for May 1999.

The groundbreaking will take place at 3 p.m. at the recreation center, 16730 Chatsworth St., Granada Hills.