Boys & Girls Club eyes Burbank park land

The Burbank City Council directed staff last week to begin looking at terms and conditions that might be appropriate for a proposed partnership with the Boys & Girls Club of Burbank and Greater East Valley under which the club would pay to build a new facility on city park property.

The council also gave direction in the 3-2 vote on Aug. 11 to hone the agreement for the proposed 15,000- to 16,000-square-foot building around use of the city’s 5.2-acre Larry L. Maxam Memorial Park. The 1.3-acre Robert E. Lundigan Park had been considered in prior discussions between city and club officials.

However, with some council members expressing reservations about what the proposal could mean for loss of green space in the city, as well as impacts to the park and the surrounding neighborhoods, the proposal is far from a foregone conclusion. Despite those concerns, an alternate measure that would have killed the proposed use of park space failed to pass.

The council’s actions are the latest developments in a saga that traces back to a 2009 plan in which the city had considered constructing a community center in Lundigan Park in a joint venture with the Boys & Girls Club and the Burbank Housing Corp.

In January, the Burbank Park, Recreation and Community Services Board voted to recommend the City Council allow the partnership to move forward in developing plans for the new club, though Terre Hirsch, then a member of the board, voted against it over concerns about losing green space.

Council members shared some of Hirsch’s concerns. Councilman Jess Talamantes recalled his experience with youth soccer, saying that when that organization grew too large to be accommodated in city parks due to lack of soccer fields, it had to turn away players and stop growing.

“There comes a time when you have to say, ‘we’re … maxed out,’” Talamantes said.

Club officials say that’s the case at their main facility on North Buena Vista Street, and, though they say they can raise the funds to construct a new facility, they are doubtful they can raise enough to purchase a piece of property where they can build it.

Lorrie Copeland, president of the club’s board of directors, said they could begin their fundraising efforts once they reach an agreement with the city for use of public property.

Club officials had sought to lease park land for $1 a year. While the organization is offering to pay for construction of the new facility, it would be available for other public recreational uses when not being used for the club’s after-school and summer programs.

City officials indicated last week that details of such terms could be subject to negotiation in a potential agreement.

Mayor Bob Frutos said he had high regard for the Boys & Girls Club from his experience as an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, but he was concerned the proposed partnership would be unfair to other organizations in the city. He also voiced reservations about giving the club priority use of the facility.

Councilman Will Rogers countered that he thought it would be unlikely another group would come forward with an offer like the one the Boys & Girls Club had proposed.

“And if there is ... we should strongly consider it,” he added.

Frutos and Councilman David Gordon opposed the use of park land, but their alternate motion directing staff to work with the Boys & Girls Club on developing a potential partnership for use of other land in the city was not supported by their colleagues.

Councilwoman Emily Gabel-Luddy supported the proposal to use park land.

“What we’re looking at is a mission that’s consistent with the mission of our parks department itself,” she said of the Boys & Girls Club, adding later that the proposal is “a cooperative vision that embodies who we are in Burbank.”