LTSC, Gilmore Discuss Gym at Vibiana's Site

The Rafu Shimpo-January 27, 2003

City says finding a site for Little Tokyo Rec Center still a priority.
By Gwen Muranaka and Maki Hirano

Little Tokyo Service Center representatives met with St. Vibiana's Cathedral developer Tom Gilmore last week in a preliminary meeting organized by the city's Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA).

St. Vibiana's, bounded by Second, Main, and Los Angeles streets in downtown L.A., is the site City Councilperson Jan Perry had asked the LTSC to study as a possible home for the proposed Little Tokyo Recreation Center.

Ayahlushim Hammond, CRA project manager, characterized the Jan. 22 session as a productive first meeting between Gilmore and LTSC that was primarily devoted to fact finding on the various projects proposed for the Vibiana's site. Participants in the meeting included Hammond, Gilmore, and Robert A. Jones, director of Vibiana Place, Gilmore and Associates; and Bill Watanabe, Lisa Sugino, and Dean Matsubayashi of LTSC Community Development Corporation.

"Previously there's been a lot of confusion about what the scope of the project was going to end up being," said Hammond. "It was important for everybody to sit down and get a sense of what this scale is going to be."

Watanabe, executive director for the LTSC CDC, remarked that he is encouraged by the city's efforts to move the recreation center project forward. The idea for a gym in Little Tokyo first arose in the 1970s and was resurrected in 1994-5 with the formation of the Little Tokyo Recreation Center organization.

Last summer, the issue was the focus of heated public debate between proponents of the rec center and the Central Avenue Art Park. The gymnasium has faced opposition to inclusion on the First Street North block from other stakeholders on the site including the Japanese American National Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Go For Broke Educational Foundation.

Rec center project architect Hayahiko Takase presented a proposal in July 2002 to build the six-court gym underground to address concerns about noise and disturbing the serenity of the Go for Broke Monument.

"I think the CRA helped clarify a lot of stuff and basically what we would like to see is some kind of arrangement between Gilmore and ourselves to make this project happen," said Watanabe. The executive director said that while LTSC is studying Vibiana's, it would not give up their stake in First Street North.

Sugino said that the rec center could lose federal funding that has already been acquired if there is no site control within the next seven months. "Our position would be, a Memorandum of Understanding is a concrete thing, but until we actually have site control or ownership or a long term lease on that site, we really can't give up First Street North. Unless we actually have a site that's an alternate, we can't give up what we've been pushing for all this time," Watanabe commented.

According to Jones, construction on the Little Tokyo Library is set to begin next month with the opening scheduled in the middle of 2004.

Gilmore and Associates bought the 2.4-acre property from the Los Angeles Archdiocese and is planning to build a performing arts center, restaurant, and 300 units of housing. Jones explained that the actual Vibiana's parcel is too small to include the gymnasium, but welcomed the development of two parking lots to the south of the old cathedral.

"The truth is that the gymnasium is too large to go on any of the remaining land on our project," said Jones in an interview with The Rafu Shimpo. "You simply couldn't fit the number of basketball courts they want to build. So theyÕre going to have to find a larger site. We're happy that they wanted to explore this site just south of us because we think it would be very good for the whole block."

"I think that gymnasium would be a wonderful project for the neighborhood. I know that Little Tokyo has been looking for a site for the project for many years. I think that this would be a very good site for them because it would give them enough land to put all the basketball courts that they need," said Jones.

Hammond remarked that it was premature to discuss the city's acquisition of the parking lots which are privately owned. "The city intends to review all options regarding the consolidation of the entire block. No decision has been made yet. If you add the two lots there is ample space," noted Hammond. The project manager said the first steps would be to write a Memorandum of Understanding agreement and a financial analysis of the Vibiana's site.

The city has also asked LTSC to study building affordable housing as part of the rec center project. Another issue discussed by the parties was building parking for all the projects on the block.

"It's important especially because for the Little Tokyo community, important to know that if it's not built at Central Avenue Art Park site, it will become a reality," said Hammond.

Copyright 2003, The Rafu Shimpo