Council Backs Sports Academy at Hansen Dam

In a coup for Councilman Alex Padilla, the Los Angeles City Council voiced unanimous support Tuesday for a proposed $10-million sports academy for low-income children at the Hansen Dam Recreation Area.

The vote was a poignant one for Padilla, an athlete who grew up flinging fastballs on the scruffy fields of Pacoima and went on to pitch for San Fernando High School and MIT. He often credits baseball with keeping him out of trouble in a rough neighborhood where drug dealing and gang activity claimed as many kids as Little League.

So when Major League Baseball officials began scouting for an area suitable for a youth baseball and softball complex, Padilla urged them to choose the spacious fields of Hansen Dam in his northeast Valley district. In partnership with the Los Angeles Dodgers and city recreation officials, Major League Baseball has pledged $3 million to build the facility on 21 acres, plus $1 million annually to help run it.

The plan now heads into the regular approval process for city projects, which involves public hearings and culminates with another trip before the City Council.

“This is really a historic day,” Padilla said.

But in the neighborhood surrounding Hansen Dam, not everyone is rooting for the ballpark. A burst of development is already in store for the 1,463-acre recreation area, including a new Children’s Museum, a library, boundless playground, soccer fields and a skate park.

Some neighbors fear a surge of traffic, others that land will be privatized to help pro baseball groom players.

Nancy Snider, president of the Lake View Terrace Homeowners Assn., said, “I want to make sure it’s a fair process for all kids. You can’t single it out just for low-income kids. That’s not fair to the rest of the children in the city.”

No opponents showed up at City Hall to speak against the project Tuesday. Several said later that they didn’t know the council would be considering a resolution supporting the plan.

“He kept it absolutely secret,” said Elaine Brown, a homeowner and board member of the Sunland-Tujunga Chamber of Commerce.

Padilla denied that.

“By no means have any public processes been skirted,” Padilla said. “The public process is just beginning.”