Sierra Recreation Center

The local outcry to save Mission Viejo's Sierra Recreation Center convinced the City Council to grant a summertime reprieve for the aging public pool, but that has failed to persuade many swimmers to take the plunge. Despite the heat Wednesday, only a few residents bothered to cool off in the 25-meter, eight-lane pool. However, those who dropped by for a swim were happy the facility was still open, even with its cracks and rust-stained deck.

The local outcry to save Mission Viejo's Sierra Recreation Center convinced the City Council to grant a summertime reprieve for the aging public pool, but that has failed to persuade many swimmers to take the plunge. Despite the heat Wednesday, only a few residents bothered to cool off in the 25-meter, eight-lane pool. However, those who dropped by for a swim were happy the facility was still open, even with its cracks and rust-stained deck.

With attendance at the Sierra Recreation Center exceeding expectations, the City Council on Monday will consider keeping it open another six months. The city had planned to close the center in January until summer programs begin. However, with about 20 to 30 people using the center daily for recreation classes and tennis, the council will decide whether to spend $44,000 to keep it open.

With attendance at the Sierra Recreation Center exceeding expectations, the City Council on Monday will consider keeping it open another six months. The city had planned to close the center in January until summer programs begin. However, with about 20 to 30 people using the center daily for recreation classes and tennis, the council will decide whether to spend $44,000 to keep it open.

The Sierra Recreation Center was ordered shut down by the City Council on Monday in a cost-cutting move that will save about $200,000 a year and may foreshadow the sale or lease of all four recreation facilities owned by the city. The three centers remaining open will cost more than $1 million annually to operate and the council renewed its desire for a report on the financial effects of leasing the buildings or selling them.

Angered by the sale of a neighborhood recreation center, about 100 residents asked the City Council on Monday to block the sale and take over the facility. Homeowners near the Sierra Recreation Center, one of four in the city run by the Mission Viejo Co., accused the development firm of acting in bad faith by not notifying them that the building was being sold and converted to a school. The Mission Viejo Co.

Faced with losing one or more of five recreation centers serving the community, more than 100 residents are expected to ask the City Council at a special public hearing tonight to take over the sites. The hearing was called by the council three weeks ago when angry citizens filled the council chambers to protest the sale of Sierra Recreation Center to a school for disabled youngsters. The five recreation halls are owned by the Mission Viejo Co., builder of the planned community.

One week after a two-alarm blaze destroyed locker rooms and offices at the Mission Viejo Aquatic Center, the world-class Nadadores swim team was back in the water. The fire, which officials believe was intentionally set and caused an estimated $230,000 damage, closed the main 50-meter-long pool for almost a week because of electrical damage. Most of the swim team's 600 members have been training at the Sierra Recreation Center in Mission Viejo.

An overflow crowd of nearly 200 residents has urged the City Council to take over the community's system of recreation centers instead of selling them to private interests. After three hours of emotional testimony Monday, the council decided to put off a decision until July while the city staff studies the situation. City Manager Fred Sorsabal said his staff needed the time to determine how a city purchase could be financed and whether the city should run the recreation centers.

When Jim Heasley was 7, he began following pack trains as they moved food and furniture up the seven-mile Mt. Wilson trail to the summer inns and campsites above Sierra Madre. Later, he spent five years loading and guiding the mule trains up the steep, dusty trails in the San Gabriel Mountains. "It was a job that suited me," he said. "No one to bother me, and you were outside."

The Sierra Recreation Center was ordered shut down by the City Council on Monday in a cost-cutting move that will save about $200,000 a year and may foreshadow the sale or lease of all four recreation facilities owned by the city. The three centers remaining open will cost more than $1 million annually to operate and the council renewed its desire for a report on the financial effects of leasing the buildings or selling them.