PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

Contact: Bill Watanabe at
(213) 473-3030 or Scott Ito
at (213) 473-1636

Southern California Families Celebrate the Little Tokyo Recreation Center

Kickoff Event Draws Hundreds to Little Tokyo in Support of Gym Project

(Los Angeles, CA) On November 8th, hundreds of families and youth gathered to celebrate the recent Los Angeles City Council approval to move forward on plans for the Little Tokyo Recreation Center (Rec Center), a multi-use facility for sports and recreational activities in Little Tokyo. Hundreds of local children attended this historic event, a large majority of them wearing uniforms from youth basketball leagues and martial arts schools from across the Greater Los Angeles Area. The midday festivities also included speeches from community leaders, traditional Japanese taiko drum performances, martial arts demonstrations, and a basketball skills competition. The event signaled the official start of the Rec Center capital campaign to raise $15 million.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Jan Perry spoke at the event and expressed her support for the Rec Center project. Little Tokyo Service Center Executive Director Bill Watanabe also spoke at the celebration to thank supporters and welcome many new faces to Little Tokyo.

“The Little Tokyo Recreation Center will be an important addition for the Little Tokyo community and for the entire Downtown area, because it will not only add much needed recreation space, but will also serve as an important economic engine and have an immediate impact on local businesses in the area”, said Perry.

The Little Tokyo Recreation Center is a project of Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC) and was finally given the approval to move forward on September 23rd, after more than fifteen years of struggle to locate an appropriate site. The City Council voted unanimously to grant LTSC the MOU to build a multi-use facility for sports and community activities in Little Tokyo, just east of Downtown Los Angeles. It will be located on the west side of Los Angeles Street between 2nd and 3rd Streets (located just south of St. Vibiana Church and the Little Tokyo Library) and will be adjacent to the LAPD Headquarters, which is currently under construction. The Rec Center will be built over a parking lot on a 36,000 square foot lot recently purchased by the City of Los Angeles. The facility will host major basketball, volleyball and martial arts tournaments, and will serve as a local community gymnasium for on-going activities. The facility is scheduled to be built in the next 3-5 years and will undergo a multi-million dollar capital campaign.

“It has now been close to fifteen years since we first started working on this project, but we are finally now ready to kick-off this process,” stated Watanabe. “Based on our preliminary analysis, the Rec Center will be utilized 18 hours a day, 7 days a week and will bring thousands of people to Little Tokyo”.

LTSC Community Development Corporation is a non-profit community-based organization, which has been providing services for over 29 years to the greater Los Angeles community. Programs include but are not limited to: assistance for victims of domestic violence, support groups, child abuse and neglect outreach, emergency food and shelter assistance, affordable housing, and community redevelopment.

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