Recreational Facilities

If you pave it, they will come. Or so say Wendy Roth and Michael Tompane in their national parks guide for people with disabilities. Roth, who uses a wheelchair, and Tompane, an avid hiker, went to 45 national parks and visited more than 100 camp sites to test accessibility. "It's really about getting people out there and feeling free," said Roth, 39, whose severe multiple sclerosis was diagnosed about 10 years ago.

Community centers are usually not the focus of lawsuits and angry rhetoric and City Council debates stretching on for two decades. But try to convince folks in Redondo Beach of that. A controversial recreational facility proposed for the city's Alta Vista Park has been repeatedly rejected by City Council members since the 1970s. Residents have lined up for and against the center, which city officials say would serve the very people who are lobbying against it.

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.

The Whittier Union High School District has found another way to raise money after falling 37 votes shy of getting voter approval in March for a bond issue. The school board Monday voted 4-0 to form a recreational facilities and maintenance assessment district. The fund-raising mechanism, which is becoming increasingly popular among school districts in the state, requires no voter approval. It will generate $1.

Hoping to avoid a costly and risky election, the Escondido Union High School District may become the first school district in California to use a 19-year-old law to raise money for recreation by imposing a parcel tax. Funds generated under the Landscaping and Lighting Facilities Act of 1972 would build and maintain facilities such as baseball diamonds, football fields, basketball courts and a gymnasium.

A year ago, officials here went out to inspect the parkland that Orange County transferred to Mission Viejo as it was approaching cityhood. What they found was not all suitable for tot lots or ball diamonds. There were oddly shaped parcels of land winding up hillsides and plunging into ravines. One 15-acre "park" consisted of an acre of flat land and 14 acres of vertical slopes surrounding two huge water tanks. "Sure, I'd like to have more usable flat land and space for ball fields," said Jim E.

Parks and other recreational facilities were given high priority by a group of Lawndale residents and city officials who met Wednesday to discuss how to spend the earnings from $10 million the city got when it sold its interest in the Galleria at South Bay. The meeting was the fourth for the advisory committee, whose 33 members include representatives from schools, churches, businesses, government and other segments of the community.

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.

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.

In a match to decide the fate of a vacant lot that once featured a sports club with tennis courts, the Culver City Council has volleyed the ball back to the developer, allowing him to build townhouses there only if he gives the city $280,000 for recreation facilities. The decision Monday has sparked arguments over the council's timing and over the city's need for facilities to replace those that the club had.