Recreational Facilities

The owner of a defunct Culver City sports club has decided to proceed with construction of townhouses on the site, despite the City Council's condition that he give the city $280,000 for recreation facilities. "We're prepared to pay it . . . but we will not do so willingly," Mitch Chupack, a representative for property owner Richard K. Ehrlich, said last week. Chupack said he was finishing plans to submit to the building department.

The Los Angeles City Council will soon consider curtailing the hours for City Hall park, the site of the two-month Occupy L.A.encampment, when it reopens next month. Instead of the sweeping lawn being accessible to the public from 5 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., as most city parks are, it would open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Existing rules on tents would be clarified and the ban on camping would be reaffirmed. City officials say the area lacks the amenities - lights, recreational facilities - of parks that are open later.

The beaches of South Africa were thrown open to all races today, in time for blacks to enjoy the summer holiday in areas where they could not go under apartheid laws. President Frederik W. de Klerk also said he will soon desegregate other recreational facilities. Over the last three years, segregation on the beaches has been gradually lifted, but two beaches in Cape Town, five in Durban and many in other resorts remained reserved for South Africa's white minority.

Robert M. Wilkinson, who during four terms on the Los Angeles City Council between 1953 and 1979 helped lay the foundation for the development of his districts in the San Fernando Valley, has died. He was 89. Wilkinson, who had broken an arm and hip in a fall, died Monday after surgery at Northridge Hospital Medical Center, said his daughter Noreen Hodapp. Wilkinson moved to the Valley with his family in 1936, and when the Canoga Park High School graduate first ran for City Council in 1953 at age 32, he told The Times he wanted to see "more young people getting into city government.

About 70 San Pedro residents turned out Tuesday night for a public hearing on the community's recreational needs, urging that work begin immediately to provide new softball fields and a gymnasium to divert youth from the streets. The hearing, called by a San Pedro citizens' panel on recreation, confirmed the results of the panel's June survey of local recreation leaders: that new multipurpose sports fields and a gymnasium are San Pedro's most pressing recreational needs over the next five years.

Picture this: Los Angeles Harbor with a first-class business district, a line of popular retail shops, expanded recreational boating facilities and a modern entertainment center. The private sector will race to invest in commercial development; an influx of tourists will finally put the harbor on the map as a travel destination; the communities of San Pedro and Wilmington will be renewed; the city of Los Angeles will reap more taxes.

To the delight of horse owners worried that the stables at El Toro Marine base would close, Orange County supervisors Tuesday approved a lease with the U.S. Navy that allows uninterrupted use of recreational facilities there. Board Chairman Charles V. Smith said he has been assured by Navy officials in San Diego that the lease will be signed before July 2 when the Marines leave the base for good. "The Navy is agreeable right down the line," Smith said.

The Community Pride Council, a coalition of homeowner associations, is developing an independent survey to fine-tune the city-funded survey released last week. The survey, which will be distributed in May to 3,500 homeowners, will ask about 10 questions concerning recreational facilities and the El Toro Road redevelopment.

* Pechiney's board dismissed a hostile $3.9-billion bid from rival Alcan Inc., the world's second-largest aluminum company, citing the price and the difficulty in getting European Commission antitrust approval. * Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. of Pasadena won a five-year, $800-million contract from Tallahassee, Fla., to improve the city's transportation, water and recreational facilities.

Pomona Valley Community Hospital is building a $3.5-million alcoholism treatment facility at 1910 Royalty Drive, northeast of the hospital. Construction of the 48-bed, 30,000-square-foot facility, which will replace a 28-bed facility opened six years ago, is expected to be completed in February, said Ken Doherty, director of community education. He said that the new facility will include a dining area, laundry room, recreational facilities and a beauty shop.

* Pechiney's board dismissed a hostile $3.9-billion bid from rival Alcan Inc., the world's second-largest aluminum company, citing the price and the difficulty in getting European Commission antitrust approval. * Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. of Pasadena won a five-year, $800-million contract from Tallahassee, Fla., to improve the city's transportation, water and recreational facilities.

As part of a matching gift to preserve art, music and science education in Irvine public schools, the Donald Bren Foundation gave the school district a $700,000 check Tuesday. The money was presented to trustees even as Irvine Unified School District officials counted ballots Tuesday night from an election on a proposed parcel tax for recreational facilities to aid the financially strapped district. Officials for the Bren-owned Irvine Co.

Twelve-year-old skateboarder Elvis Garcia launches off a three-foot ramp and catches air. The pint-sized daredevil from Watts is accustomed to dodging cars and police in search of places to practice. But as he flies across Lynwood's new skate park, his sole challenge lies in completing the daring "transfer" trick--soaring from one ramp to another. Not this time. Elvis tumbles when his board hits the rail and he falls hard onto the concrete.

It was 9:15 a.m. on a Friday, and the parking lot at the Montanoso Recreation Center in Mission Viejo was jammed. Inside, heads bobbed to the beat of a Jazzercise tape. Legs pumped on the Lifecycles and treadmills. The pool outside churned with morning water aerobics class. The tennis courts were alive with smashes and volleys. Just another day in this South County city.

For almost a year, Stephen Roney and the two Ladera Ranch adult softball teams he plays with have had to load their cars with equipment for a 15-minute drive deep into neighboring Mission Viejo for their games. Their home games. Now, with the opening today of the county's first new sports park in nearly 20 years, Roney and teammates will be able to walk to their practices and games.

The nomination deadline for a new commissioner to the five-member Parks and Recreation Commission is set for next Wednesday. The position came open in February when Dan Mayer resigned. The group advises the City Council on the development and maintenance of public parks and recreational facilities. It also works with recreational programs and the community services departments.

If the city could build just one more recreational facility, the top choice among residents would be a public swimming pool, according to a recent survey. The survey, conducted by the Fairfax Research Group in February, was commissioned by the city to determine residents' opinions of the city's existing parks and recreational facilities. The 400 families who participated in the survey were also questioned about future facilities they would like to see built.

Inspired by Tiger Woods, city parks officials announced Wednesday they will open a golf academy for city youth next month in Griffith Park. The Tregnan Golf Academy at Coolidge is set to open July 10, providing city children with the chance to take lessons on three practice holes and a driving range. The facility, on the site of the old Coolidge pitch-and-putt course, also includes a clubhouse with classrooms. Instruction will include golf merchandising, club repair and greens maintenance.

It is a quintessentially Southern California tale, this struggle over water rights. But instead of developers fighting farmers for the precious liquid, growing numbers of fitness enthusiasts, young swimmers and water polo players are battling to see who gets their feet wet first and for how long.