In
the last five years, the Rec Center Board and LTSC-CDC
have identified some 25 different possible sites in
the Little Tokyo area and have pursued 13, meeting
major obstacles in each. These obstacles fall into
two main categories: private landowners who don't
want to sell and government-owned sites with other
problems. We have tried several gym-based projects,
some involving housing and other community facilities.
(You may have heard about some of them.)
Here
is a brief synopsis of our efforts. Some of the sites
we investigated proved to be physically inappropriate
(too small, shape, bad siting) or environmentally
contaminated (expensive and unknown cost of cleanup).
Other are owned by long term land speculators who
are not interested in today's market values –
they're holding on until land prices go higher.
In
1995-97 we concentrated on plans for the block known
as "First Street North" (FSN). FSN is the historic
area bounded by Alameda, First, Judge John Aiso
(formerly San Pedro) and Temple streets. It is home
to the Japanese American National Museum, the historic
First Street business district, the Union Center for
the Arts, the Veterans' Memorial and the Museum of
Contemporary Art's Geffen Temporary. After extensive
consultations with community members, we proposed
a development that would include a museum as well
as a gym. We knew that the L.A. Children's Museum
and the Latino Museum were both looking for sites.
But Ninth District Councilwoman Rita Walters, whose
district takes in Little Tokyo, including FSN, rejected
our proposal. Walters told us that that the area could
only be used as "open space."
We began to search for another site in the area. In
the mid-late 90's, the Rec Center was part of a proposed
project on Second Street and Central Avenue that included
the Little Tokyo branch of the L.A. Public Library
and 200 units of mixed-income housing. Although the
site was an undeveloped parking lot, the private owner
was not willing to sell it to this project at market
value. We asked the CRA to acquire the land by eminent
domain, which it has frequently done in its project
areas throughout the city, including the Little Tokyo
Redevelopment Project. But in December of 1998, the
Agency Board refused to take that action. The
site is slated for development as an Office Depot
store.
In
1999, we made formal offers on another large undeveloped
property. But the owners, because of internal company
issues, were not interested in selling. Only one site
available today: First Street North. At the end of
1999, after all these efforts, it was clear that no
privately-owned land was available for the gym project.
In early 2000, we decided that the only location with
any possibilities was FSN.
A
community campaign for the Rec Center on the block
known as First Street North over the next 3 years
succeeded in bringing thousands of supporters together,
but ultimately was not able to secure a site for the
facility.
During
newly elected Councilwoman Jan Perry's tenure, since
2002 through the present, efforts have focused on
working with the City of Los Angeles to acquire additional
land for a mixed use development south of the historic
St. Vibiana Cathedral.
Current
plans from 2005 include the Rec Center next to LAPD
parking and maintenance facilities.
