Rogers Park lost money last year
CITYWIDE Visitors to Will Rogers’ former ranch in the Pacific Palisades might soon have their visitation rights temporarily suspended.
Included within Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s controversial budget proposal is a bid to close 48 state parks and reduce lifeguard staffing at 16 state beaches, a move that would ultimately save more than $9 million to help close a nearly $14.5 billion deficit.
Among those recreational facilities affected would be Will Rogers State Historic Park, the site of the Hollywood actor’s ranch which he purchased in the 1920s and was later transformed into a state park after his widow died in 1944.
The proposal has been criticized by legislators and various outdoor recreational organizations, which see the cuts as doing very little to help close such a wide budget deficit.
“Will Rogers State Historic Park is a unique treasure,” Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica, said in a statement on Wednesday. “As Will Rogers’ home, it’s an early Hollywood museum, housing countless mementos of the wit and charm that made him one of the most beloved stars of early film and radio.”
Brownley — who represents Santa Monica and whose district would see three park closures, including Will Rogers State Historic Park, Los Encinos State Park and Topanga State Park — serves on the budget subcommittee for environmental resources, which is expected to meet in the next few months about the proposal.
“I’ll fight as hard as I can to make sure that it stays open,” she said.
The methodology used to come up with the list of parks to be closed was based on whether the park could be effectively closed physically to vehicular traffic, whether it had low visitation levels as well as low revenue generating power, said Roy Stearns, the spokesman for California State Parks and Recreation.
“We would prefer to close units with lower revenue to minimize revenue loss,” Stearns said on Wednesday. “If you close your highest revenue producing parks, you make the problem worse.”
In 2006, the park had an attendance of 203,000. During the previous fiscal year, the park also lost more than $346,000, which was also the figure used to project the losses in the next fiscal year if the budget is adopted as proposed, Stearns said.
While the parks would remain closed if the proposal is adopted, there will still be some funding for caretakers for the upkeep of the park, Stearns added.
The parks in the area have sustained cuts over the past 15 years, which occurred through a series of reorganization measure that have resulted in the loss of funding for various positions, according to Ron Schafer, the district superintendent that oversees various park land, including Will Rogers.
“It’s just a proposed budget right now, we’re hoping that through the budget process that perhaps our funding will be restored,” he said.
Among the organizations opposing the proposal is the California Parks and Recreation Society, a non-profit organization based in Sacramento.
Jane Adams, the executive director of the organization, said that the cuts will impact Californians who rely on the parks and open space for education as well as recreation and will disrupt the physical and mental health connection people have with nature.
Members have been sending letters in opposition to legislators and the governor, Adams said.
“Many, even historic sites, are old and will need to be upgraded to some level or there will be some damage to the facilities, which cost more (money) to keep them up and running,” Adams said. “That’s why a complete closure is such a dramatic move, very very dramatic.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 14, 2008. Read the original PDF.