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The original
sketch and photos for a gymnasium presented by the youth to the Los
Angeles CRA in 1994.
More
of the Story:
• The Search for a Site
• St. Vibiana's Cathedral
• First Street North, 2000-2002
• Funding Search
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The
idea of a recreation center in Little Tokyo is not new. In fact, a
gymnasium was included in the original plans for a cultural and community
complex almost 30 years ago [1972]. This changed, however, when world-famous
sculptor Isamu Noguchi was selected to produce a sculpture for the
project and also proposed to remove the gym to make room for an open
plaza to display his work. His idea was accepted, marking a shift
in emphasis from the "community" to the "cultural" aspects of the
complex.
The
Japanese American Cultural and Community Center opened its doors
in 1980, with the Noguchi Plaza occupying the spot where a community
gymnasium could have been. Various community-based athletic groups
(basketball, volleyball, martial arts) have continued to speak for
the need for a centrally-located space in Little Tokyo to hold larger
tournaments, and the effort to build a gym was revived in the 1990s.
In 1994, a series of planning sessions were held in Little Tokyo
by the City of L.A.'s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA). At the
culmination, groups presented their findings. The only group that
included young Nikkei college and high school students stood up
to give their report. Not intimidated by the architectural renderings
of statues, sculptures and gardens presented before them, they held
up a hand-drawn picture of a basketball court and said, "A gym would
bring young people down here. I'd come down here if there was a
gym."
In
1995, a Task Force on the gym was formed by the Little Tokyo advisory
group to the CRA. The Task Force originally included local businesses
and staff from the Little Tokyo
Service Center-CDC. (The Service CenterŐs "CDC", or Community
Development Corporation arm handles the development of affordable
housing and community facilities.) LTSC-CDC was asked to take on
the gym project. The Little Tokyo Community Gymnasium was incorporated
in 1998 with a Board of Directors that included members of the Task
Force as well as representatives from community basketball, volleyball,
martial arts and senior citizens' organizations.
Over the past ten years, the Little Tokyo Community Gymnasium concept
has evolved into the Little Tokyo Recreation Center, a multi-purpose,
multi-generation facility. LTSC-CDC and the Rec Center Board, as
well as a community coalition, have been working to obtain funding
and a site for the Rec Center.
The Rec Center has widespread community support, but we need to
get ourselves organized to make it through the usual tangle of local
politics.
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