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Legacy L.A. Gets Go Ahead to Transform Hazard Park Armory

Non-profit and City enter 50-year operating agreement.

By Gloria Angelina Castillo, EGP Staff Writer

Plans to turn the Armory at Hazard Park into a community center will move forward now that the Los Angeles City Council has unanimously approved a 50-year agreement with Legacy L.A., despite concerns voiced by some local activists.

“This is a major step in our battle to decrease gang violence in our community,” said Councilmember Jose Huizar (D-14) after the 11-0 vote on Dec. 11. “Now instead of housing trucks, the old armory will house children and in doing so, it’ll be a place where dreams come true for kids who desperately need hope. Today we answer that cry.  I salute the council, the department of recreation and parks and the mayor’s office for fully supporting this effort.”

The armory consists of two buildings on five acres that were built in 1953 to house soldiers. Nearby modular buildings will continue to be used by the Navy. Legacy L.A.’s Executive Director Lou Calanche says the two main buildings will be remodeled to house a variety of services and programs that the organization has in mind.

Calanche says the two buildings are in good condition but the plumbing and electrical systems need to be upgraded for today’s use and capacity. Plans for the armory include: two large multi-purpose community rooms, a screening entertainment room, a nutrition center, a large computer room, a recording studio, a large sound theater, a cafe, and various rooms that could be rented to non-profit organizations providing services to the community.

A group of ten students participating in the “Dream Big Youth Fellowship,” a program sponsored by the California Endowment that aims to reduce gangs, is also helping to plan and create a Youth Action Center modeled after the Oakland based group Youth Uprising.

“The most expensive part of the project will be the terrace amphitheatre which is a new street level entrance; they will have to grade down the 10 foot retaining wall and add steps,” said Calanche.

Legacy L.A. began collecting information on community needs in November 2007.  Originally it sought a 30-year contract with the City of Los Angeles, but now it will have two additional decades to provide services and programs to the youth of Ramona Gardens, says the group.

“The 50 year agreement was presented by Rec. and Parks staff. We will also be investing millions into a City owned building so this is a good partnership all the way around,” Calanche told EGP in an e-mail.

Calanche is hopeful that the first floor of the main building will open in 2010. She estimates the entire remodeling project will cost somewhere between 5-10 million dollars.

A cost analysis to remodel the buildings is currently being conducted and in January, a secondary cost analysis for landscaping will begin. Jenny Krusoe is responsible for Legacy L.A.’s capital campaign, and says it will depend mainly on private and non-profit foundation grants. She adds that it has also applied for AB31 urban park funds. And in spite of the economic recession, Krusoe says it will go ahead with their plans.
She says Legacy L.A. will have the right to charge for some services to help offset costs, but she insists local residents will not be charged.

“When every square foot is in use, it will cost approximately $600,000 each year to maintain…those are operating expenses: utilities, and security,” Krusoe told EGP.

In the past, Legacy L.A., and specifically Krusoe, was criticized by some in the community for what it claimed was a lack of transparency in the process, and a lack of accountability to ensure promises are kept.

Krusoe says Legacy L.A. is not leasing the property; instead it has an operating agreement through which it will become partners with the Department of Recreation and Parks. Each year, however, it will have to present their plans to the Department for approval, she said.

“Rec. and Parks will maintain a partnership with Legacy and the right of first refusal for programs and we will have to provide programming detail to Rec and Parks as well,” clarified Calanche via email.

Krusoe says Legacy L.A. will not be allowed to house profit-driven private companies; partnering non-profit organizations at the armory will have to be legally designated 501(c)3 non profits organizations.

Community activist Scott Johnson who was one of many who expressed concern over Legacy L.A. in August, told EGP that City union employees are concerned that the deal and process has not been transparent.

“A lot of Dept. of Rec. and Parks employees see Legacy L.A. as a way of outsourcing Rec & Park programs,” Johnson said, inferring that union jobs will be lost as a result.

EGP spoke with several local mothers who attended the Legacy L.A. meeting held in September to discuss the future of the armory. The women told EGP that they were not concerned over criticism of Legacy L.A. Rather they were optimistic that something beneficial for the community would finally take place at the long-time, off-limits property.

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