BUDGET INCLUDES PARK PLANS; PROPOSAL WOULD PROVIDE $11 MILLION.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Daily News Staff Writer

Nearly $11 million in bond money is included in the proposed Los Angeles County budget for regional parks in the Santa Clarita Valley.

The bulk of the Proposition A park bond money will go to the Castaic Lake Recreation Area, the Castaic Sports Complex, Vasquez Rocks Park and Hart Park, according to county records.

More than $3.6 million has been allocated for the sports complex where officials expect to break ground in September on a gym that will provide the valley with its first public indoor basketball and volleyball courts, said Henry Roman, a senior assistant director with the county Department of Parks and Recreation. The complex, just north of the Pitchess Detention Center, also will receive lighting for its soccer field and a fitness course that follows a track with various exercise stations, he said.

``Prop. A was definitely a big boost for the parks,'' Roman said. ``We're still short, but we're steadily getting more facilities. As the economy improves, hopefully things will continue to improve.''

At Castaic Lake, the budget calls for improvements at a campground for those in recreational vehicles, new picnic shelters and some other renovations, Roman said. The Placerita Nature Center will get a new roof plus $1 million to buy adjoining land to expand. It will be up to the community of Agua Dulce to decide how nearly $2.1 million allocated for Vasquez Rocks Park should be spent, he added.

``The community has indicated they want a community center with an interpretive center,'' Roman said. Residents have sought a project that would preserve and protect prehistoric rock art found at the park, he added.

The renovation of a ``pole barn'' at William S. Hart Park is the only county project funded within the Santa Clarita city limits. Hart, a silent screen star, bequeathed his Newhall estate to the county long before the city formed so the center remains under that jurisdiction.

``Hart stored equipment under this great big pole structure,'' said Councilwoman Jo Anne Darcy, who is Los County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich's local field deputy.

``The foundation's still good and they're using the poles to make a barn-like community center,'' Darcy said. ``They'll be having parties and weddings there. It's cute, it's a Western design.''

Other money will go toward adding restrooms and other services at the smaller county parks in Castaic and Val Verde, and for construction of Richard Rioux Park in Stevenson Ranch, where construction is scheduled to begin in late May.

IMPROVING PARKS

These are appropriations in the proposed Los Angeles County budget to upgrade parks in the unincorporated Santa Clarita Valley:

Castaic Lake Recreation Area: $2.7 million

Castaic Sports Complex: $3.6 million

Del Valle Park: $351,000

William S. Hart Park: $1.5 million

Hasley Canyon Park: $30,000

North County trails: $270,000

Placerita Canyon Park: $2 million

Plum Canyon Park: $400,000

Stevenson Ranch Park: $1.7 million

Val Verde Park: $693,000

Vasquez Rocks Park: $2.1 million

SOURCE: Los Angeles County

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BOX: IMPROVING PARKS (see text)