Ovrom Park awaits council

BURBANK — Burbank’s next park is one step closer to construction.

The city has awarded a $5.2-million contract for the Robert R. Ovrom Park project, and city officials are seeking council approval on Tuesday to move forward with the transfer of funds needed to build Burbank’s 25th park.

The project will include a 7,000-square-foot neighborhood community center and 1.4-acre park at the corner of South San Fernando Boulevard and Cedar Avenue, officials said.

“That area is totally underserved,” Parks and Recreation Director Eric Hansen said. “This will offer something that should be very valuable to the people residing in that area.”

Plans for the neighborhood community center include a kitchen, public computers and a community room available for birthday parties and other celebrations, Hansen said.

The park will have a regulation-size basketball court, separate play areas for children and an open turf area with barbecues and picnic tables.

Though the park segment is smaller than other green spaces in Burbank, the area’s needs for a park outweighed the city’s desire for a larger playground, Hansen said.

“There are limitations because the park isn’t that large,” he said. “We didn’t get as much as we liked, but it’s great. It would have been nice to have a soccer field, but that takes a couple acres of land. What we’ve tried to do is take all of those desires in the neighborhood and mix them in best we could.”

The park’s price tag will run north of $8.2 million, about $200,000 more than the original estimate. The increase is partly due to higher construction costs, Public Works Director Bonnie Teaford said.

“We’ve seen an escalation in construction costs in the past few years,” she said, attributing the increase to the growth of China’s economy and Hurricane Katrina, both of which tied up construction markets with new developments.

Higher fuel prices are also to blame, Teaford said.

“Fuel prices have doubled, so the price of dry wall has gone up,” she said.

Burbank is expected to draw on four sources to pay for the project, Teaford said.

Money from the city’s general, development impact and redevelopment funds would be used, as well as grant money Burbank has secured.

In May 2006, the City Council directed staff to proceed with design efforts for Ovrom Park, and two months later, the council approved plans for the site.

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, the city plans to award a $5.2-million contract to Morillo Construction Inc., which secured the bid after submitting a proposal 2% below an independent cost estimate, staff reports said.

Aside from providing green space for area residents, the motivation for building Ovrom Park, named for former City Manager Bud Ovrom, can be found in the city’s drive to provide parks for its residents, Hansen said.

“The city’s intent is to have a park-type place within a half-mile of all residents,” he said. “By having this park facility in this neighborhood, 95% of the city is now covered.”

The only places not covered by this credo are the media district and the land adjacent to the airport, he said.

“But we’re always looking to develop potential green space,” Hansen said.

 JEREMY OBERSTEIN covers City Hall and public safety. He may be reached at (818) 637-3242 or by e-mail at jeremy.oberstein@ latimes.com.