The vacant, 1950s-era Copley YMCA building in Mid-City will be turned into a community recreation center thanks to a $3.1 million state grant announced Monday.
The project was outlined by Mayor Kevin Faulconer, City Councilmember Marti Emerald and Park and Recreation Director Herman Parker at a press conference outside the old facility, which was vacated when the new Copley-Price YMCA opened in January.
“The city now has the keys to the former Copley YMCA building,” Falconer said, and will use the grant to renovate it for residents of the Mid-City area.
There will be services for seniors, veterans and the disabled, and for youth upgraded basketball courts and a new skateboard park — financed by an earlier grant — on the 10.5 acre property.
“This is a project that should put a smile on everybody’s face,” said Emerald.
Emerald and Faulconer thanked the Mid-City Community Advocacy Network for its efforts on behalf of the project.
The facility will be renamed the Park De La Cruz Recreation Center when the renovation and skateboard park are complete in mid 2017. Parker noted that the gymnasium, which was added in the 1990s, could re-open as soon as October.
The grants for both the renovation and the skateboard park came from the California Department of Housing and Community Development.
