Irma Lemus
SOUTH SAN FERNANDO DISTRICT -- A planned facility operated by the
Burbank Boys & Girls Club and Burbank Unified School District would serve
children in one of the most economically disadvantaged regions in the
city, the head of the youth center said.
Although city officials have not signed off on the deal, the
$3.5-million, two-story facility is scheduled to open in the South San
Fernando District in about three years, said Alex Fey, executive director
of the Burbank Boys & Girls Club.
The center will be designed to give children recreational options in
an area of the city that has experienced an increase in juvenile crime,
Fey said.
"The South San Fernando area is in need of youth services. There is a
high number of apartment buildings in this area, as well as working and
single parents," Fey said.
The bottom floor of the building would serve as a satellite location
for the club's main facility on Buena Vista Street, while the upper floor
would be the site of the Community School, district officials said. Fey
said the club and the district would split the cost of the building.
The new facility is being planned for Cedar Street and South San
Fernando Boulevard. The Boys & Girls Club's portion of the building would
include about 10,000 square feet of program space, enough to accommodate
about 250 youths, Fey said. The club's satellite location will include a
photography room, a learning center and a computer lab.
Burbank's Boys & Girls Club serves about 400 children ages 7 to 17.
Most members pay a monthly fee of $45.
If the district agrees to proceed with the project, it would use the
facility as the new location of the Community School, which is at the
district's old headquarters on Buena Vista Street.
The Community School serves high school students with learning
disorders or emotional problems that prevent them from attending regular
classes. The school must move out of the old district headquarters by
September to make way for the rebuilding of the Buena Vista Library.
Ali Kiafar, the district's assistant superintendent for planning,
development and facilities, said school officials were inclined to
support the joint facility but had not made a final decision on the
project.
Kiafar said he did not know when the project would start because
negotiations with the city for the Buena Vista property have not been
completed.
In addition to the Boys & Girls Club and the new Community School,
Burbank Park and Recreation Director Mary Alvord said the city is
considering several plans to build a park on city-owned property adjacent
to where the center would be built.
"For years, we have identified that quadrant of the city as being
extremely deficient in park land," Alvord said. "We owe it (to residents)
to get a neighborhood park in there."
City Manager Bud Ovrom said the city has been working to improve the
South San Fernando District. He said the Boys & Girls Club project would
be a great opportunity for the city to enhance an area that has few parks
and few organized opportunities for children.
"It's incredibly underserved," Ovrom said.
