Lynwood breaks ground on $5M community center

LYNWOOD – The southern portion of Lynwood’s Yvonne Burke/Ham Park has been fenced off to the public for the construction of an 8,600-sq. ft. community center.

Elected officials officially broke ground on the new community center this past weekend. The facility is set to be a sustainably designed 8,600-square-foot building which will include a reception area, public restrooms, storage area, equipment room, central game room, three multi-purpose rooms, kitchen, staff offices, a concession area and a security office.  

As designed, the community center will receive at least a Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certificate for being a green building. The project is made possible by a $5 million state grant from Proposition 84 and a $250,000 grant from the Los Angeles County Regional Open Space District.  

While thousands of kids and adults alike use the southern portion of Yvonne Burke Park to play soccer or flag football throughout the year, the area will remain closed to the public through September 2016. Families will have to reroute their practice and playtimes to Lynwood City Park in the meantime.

“The closure of the park will temporarily inconvenience a large portion of our year-round park goers,” said Mark Flores, director of the City’s Recreation and Community Services Department. “For about the next 10 months, we’re asking our kids and adults to enjoy and experience Lynwood City Park for their recreational purposes. It may seem like a long time, but in the end it will be well worth it. This new Community Center will bring more life to our park and the east side of town – bringing benefits to our residents on many different levels.”

Yvonne Burke Park also houses Lynwood’s annual Farmer’s Market and summer Movies in the Park Series. Those programs will either be moved to Lynwood Park, City Hall or at Yvonne Burke Park, depending on construction progress next summer.

The northern portion of Yvonne Burke Park will still be available for public use through next September.

“People will still be able to enjoy the northern portion of the park, the basketball courts and enjoy their walk around the park, and all of the exercise equipment,” said Flores. “A portion of the park will be closed for a while, but we’re not completely shutting down the entire park. It will be a challenge to operate without that open park space for 10 months, but we are going to do our best to accommodate all of our park goers as best as possible.”