TITLE
Recommendation to adopt resolution authorizing City Manager to submit a grant application to California State Parks through the Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program of 2008, for the construction of a new community center and community garden at Orizaba Park, at a total estimated construction cost of
$2.2 million. (District 4)
DISCUSSION
On November 7, 2006, California voters passed Proposition 84, the $54 billion Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006, to provide capital funding for water quality and park programs. Subsequent enabling legislation authorized $368 million in Proposition 84 grant funding for the Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program of 2008 (Park Development Program).
The Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine (PRM) would like to apply for $2.2 million in grant funding through the Park Development Program for the construction of a new community center and community garden at Orizaba Park. Originally, Orizaba Park consisted of 1.5 acres along the former historic Pacific Electric Right-of-Way (PEROW) trolley line, also known as the Red Car Trolley Line, between Temple Avenue and Orizaba Avenue. Recently, the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency (RDA) acquired a 1.1-acre site adjacent to the park and along 14th Street, in order to remove blighted industrial areas. The goal is to use this additional site to expand the park area in this park-deficient community. In addition to the community center, a community garden will be included in the grant application as a second "recreational feature," which is a grant requirement for achieving maximum grant rating points used toward the awarding of funding (Attachment A).
Through a partnership between the City, RDA, and the community during the acquisition process of the adjacent land, several public meetings were held in order to gather community input for an overall new park design, which would integrate the new land with the older park. The public meetings established that the community's top priority is to build a small community center that will provide meeting space and a permanent location to conduct recreational programming (currently, a temporary trailer is being utilized for this purpose). In addition, the new community center will allow PRM to move youth recreation programming from the Freeman Center indoor-only site (which will then be closed) to the park, which will enhance and expand recreation programming and outdoor access. The residents have requested that the park design recognize the community's history by incorporating aspects of the historic PEROW Red Car Trolley Line that once bisected the site between the former Temple Avenue stop and the Zaferia (also known as East Long Beach) Station, which was razed many years ago. PRM has contracted with an architectural firm that drafted a single-story community center floor plan containing 4,000 square feet of space, with the exterior designed in the architectural style of the former Zaferia Station. Trolley line rail design will be incorporated into the concrete walkway where the park site was originally bisected (Attachment B). An aerial map of Orizaba Park is attached (Attachment C).
This matter was reviewed by Deputy City Attorney Gary J. Anderson on January 25, 2010, and Budget and Performance Management Bureau Manager David Wodynski on January 28,2010.
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
City Council action is requested on February 16, 2010, in order to submit the grant application to California State Parks by their due date of March 1, 2010.
FISCAL IMPACT
The total direct cost of the project is estimated at $2.2 million. Grant monies will offset 100 percent of the direct project development costs. Future annual community center operation and maintenance costs are estimated at $25,000, which will be absorbed through PRM's existing maintenance budget. Existing recreation staff will be moved from the Freeman Center, which will close, to the new community center. This would allow the City to lease or sell the existing Freeman site. Should the grant application be selected for funding, a recommendation will be made to the City Council to accept the grant and appropriate the funding.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
BODY
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LONG BEACH APPROVING THE APPLICATION FOR STATEWIDE PARK PROGRAM GRANT FUNDS
Respectfully Submitted,
PHIL T. HESTER
DIRECTOR, PARKS, RECREATION AND MARINE
NAME |
APPROVED: |
TITLE |
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PATRICK H. WEST |
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CITY MANAGER |