La Colonia Park Making a Splash

A dozen kids cling to the side of the turquoise pool, splashing each other. In the adjoining gym, girls sprint up and down the basketball court, practicing layups.

The scene hardly suggests the assaults, robberies and fights that defined Oxnard’s La Colonia Park for decades.

“We have a reputation here,” said Sergio Lopez, who directs the gym. “It used to be bad. Since we’ve taken over and cleaned up, it’s good.”

Since 1993, many youths have spent summer days in the only free city-run gym and pool in Oxnard, with the pool becoming crowded soon after its noon opening.

Still, organized basketball for high school youths in the park stopped years ago because local gang members stood ready to defend their turf--from visiting teams.

“They would get in fights, stare-downs, it was a tense situation,” recreation manager John Godina said. “We had to call the police.”

About the same time, Friday night pickup basketball fizzled out.

Now, only third- through eighth-grade students can join the neighborhood basketball team, the Colonia Cougars, whose gleaming blue, gold, purple and green trophies adorn the gym office.

High school youths play pickup games in the late afternoons. In the middle of the day the park belongs to younger children.

“I come here every day,” said Nicole Harvey, 13, a seventh-grader at Robert J. Frank Intermediate School. “This is practically the only place around.”

Children Head for Pool After Classes

Oxnard schools have year-round classes, so in summer the children of La Colonia arrive at the pool in shifts. Many bring their bathing suits to neighboring Cesar Chavez School and show up at the pool minutes after school is dismissed, staying until their parents call them home.

“I calculate when school lets out from the crowds of kids,” said lifeguard Juan Carlos Diaz, 22.

Many of the lifeguards learned to swim in Colonia’s pool.

“My brother pushed me in the deep end over there and I had to swim out,” said Diaz, a lifeguard for six years. “Every year they’re here and I see them grow.”

Pedro Dimas, 20, also a lifeguard from Colonia, is deaf. He signed that he once rescued a drowning child who was calling for help after Dimas saw the boy waving his arms. He drew him in to safety, Dimas motioned, folding his arms over his heart.

At poolside, a tattooed 16-year-old threw children screaming and laughing into the water. Older boys on bicycles stopped by the pool fence and peeked in on younger siblings.

“I was just passing by,” said Angel Garcia, 17. “There’s not much to do.”

Richard Majeno, 16, said he visits the gym every day it’s open, to lift weights, play basketball and spend time with friends.

But trouble is not gone from La Colonia Park.

“We’re in the middle of a big gang here,” Lopez said.

The rules of the neighborhood also rule the gym.

“In a gang-affiliated neighborhood, people understand respect,” said Lopez, who greets the toughest-looking boys as he walks through the park.

“You don’t mess with me, I don’t mess with you,” he says.

Parents used to forbid their children to go to the park, notorious for drug trade and other crimes.

“It was rough. It was wild,” recalls Diaz, who says his mother didn’t allow him to visit the park at times.

A couple of years ago police themselves dismantled the cement handball courts that had served as a congregation point for gangs.

Since then, officers have increased patrols of the park and crime has decreased, Sgt. Bob Camarillo said.

Lopez is proud of such things as the immaculate bathroom and bright flowers that neighborhood girls bring to his office each day. Most evenings, about 150 adults come through the weight room, Lopez said.

There is a washing machine to clean the jerseys that staff members loan to local teams that cannot afford to buy their own. The jerseys are reversible in various colors because sometimes two teams borrow them to play each other, Lopez said.

History of Community Depicted in Mural

In a nearby recreation center, youths send e-mails and play games on a dozen computers while another group of 10-year-olds plays pool.

A year-old mural on the outside wall of the pool tells the history of the community, with depictions ranging from Aztecs to Cesar Chavez. A boxer takes a jab at a red punching bag that reads “Discrimination.”

The kids come to this park to meet their friends, get out of the house, and have fun, they say.

“If we keep them busy they’re not as apt to get in trouble,” Camarillo said.