KOREATOWN : Rec Center Redesign Waits in the Wings

When the city can come up with the money, a team of Cal State Northridge students is ready with a plan to renovate the Ardmore Park Community and Recreation Center.

Ildiko Choy assigned her interior design students the task of redesigning six buildings that suffered riot damage or were in riot-affected areas. The designs were on display last week at City Hall.

Choy is a member of the Design Professionals’ Coalition, a nonprofit organization formed to help with the rebuilding efforts.

Choy chose the six buildings from a list the coalition put together with community input. Among the other structures Choy had her students redesign were a two-story commercial building in the Mid-City area that had been burned down during the riots, and a Long Beach restaurant.

A refurbishment for the Ardmore center, built in 1949, is long overdue, community leaders said. The students have proposed adding color and roughly 2,400 square feet to the 6,100-square-foot center at San Marino Street and Irolo Avenue.

For starters, the students suggested reworking the center’s entrance and painting a multicolored mural on the now-beige front of the building.

Inside, the students proposed adding a child-care classroom (there is currently only one classroom in the building) and an adjacent children’s restroom. They also proposed expanding the kitchen and eating area and painting a bright-colored border around the gym floor.

The students suggested the use of glass block to enclose a side patio to provide a light-filled picnic and gathering area for the center’s senior citizens. And because a hot dog cart parked regularly at the center has been a favorite of area youth, the students designed a permanent hot dog stand/snack bar in the back of the building.

City parks officials chose this design out of three proposed by different teams in Choy’s class. Michael Munsch, architect for the city Recreation and Parks Department, said city officials were impressed by all three designs but chose the one that fit the city’s need for a long-wearing, low-maintenance building.

The other two proposals called for construction of a second floor and other more expensive and elaborate undertakings, Munsch said.

Unfortunately, the $875,000 it will take to turn the students’ ideas into reality isn’t available right now, Munsch said. City parks officials are looking for funds and hope to get council members to prioritize the Ardmore project, Munsch said.

The students spent about six weeks on the project, which included meetings with city officials and Ardmore staff.

Student Bonnie Gray said she so enjoyed the project she is considering looking for a design job at a public agency rather than at a private design firm.

“You feel like you’re doing something to help the community,” she said. ‘I’m interested in designing restaurants, but this is more rewarding than private work.”