BANISH FEAR, BRING IN FUN PARK UPGRADES SYMBOLIZE CIVIC COMEBACK.

Byline: Dominic Berbeo Staff Writer

SAN FERNANDO - Completing a 10-year search for funds, city officials this month scraped together the final dollars needed for $5 million of improvements at Las Palmas Park, a symbol of change in recent years for San Fernando.

A decade ago, the park - with only a couple of ball fields - was a magnet for gang members who marked it with graffiti.

Now, the square-block park on Huntington Street in this city of 30,000 people is scheduled to get improved athletic fields and a recreation center to include activities for youths and seniors in the final phase of the renovation project.

``Making this renovation happen has been a dream I started 10 years ago,'' said Councilman Jose Hernandez. ``This is an older part of town that will be greatly served by the park.''

At one point in the early 1990s, violence in and near the park drove the City Council to obtain a six-month gang injunction - a court order prohibiting gang members from gathering in the area.

``Their presence was so overriding that people were afraid to go to the park,'' said Xavier Flores, director of Pueblo y Salud, a San Fernando- based community outreach group.

The injunction and other steps, such as the eviction of suspected gang members by private landlords in the area, helped reduce violent crime in the city, according to Hernandez and others.

Between 1995 and 2000, violent crimes in San Fernando decreased by more than 50 percent, with no homicides from 1999 to 2000, according to statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In contrast, there have been at least three fatal gang-related shootings just outside the city's border in neighboring Pacoima over the past 30 days or so.

Changes came to Las Palmas Park because of organized efforts to create a more positive atmosphere in the troubled neighborhood, officials said.

``The improvements to the park were sparked by the problems in the area,'' said John Ornelas, city administrator. ``It's a symbol of change, a complete renewal for the park.''

Part of the final renovation phase will include a 12,000-square-foot recreation center, a commercial kitchen for the city's senior meal program, an expanded children's playground, an arts-and-crafts workshop, and improved basketball courts, said Michael Drake, director of public works.

Last year, the city completed a 7,000-square-foot addition to an existing building in the park, which houses a computer learning center and youth counseling offices.

Funding for the last phase comes from $1 million in state money, combined with $1.5 million that the San Fernando City Council approved Apr. 16, with construction scheduled to start as early as this year.

The city last year hired a lobbyist to push for the state funding and also gained support from Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, D-Panorama City, and Sen. Richard Alarcon, D-Van Nuys, both of whom represent the area.

Activities at the park range from baseball, basketball, soccer and tennis to classes on folkloric dance, computers, sewing, art and music, English, and citizenship.

``People are not so scared anymore,'' Flores said. ``Plus there's facilities and activities. All of these things make the residents feel the city is moving in the direction of their interests.''

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, map

Photo:

(1) Francis Cuentas plays with her niece and nephew on the swings at renovated Las Palmas Park in San Fernando.

(2) Basketball players enjoy the renewal of San Fernando's Las Palmas Park, which was once plagued by gangs.

(3 -- ran in Bulldog edition only) Las Palmas Park's expanded community center hosts an arts and crafts class, while an indoor gym shelters basketball players in a neighborhood where gang activity once made residents afraid to go to the park.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

Map: Las Palmas Park