YOUTH COMPLEX BUILDING PLAN GOING FORWARD.

Byline: Angela M. Lemire Staff Writer

Development of the multi-use Santa Clarita Sports Complex continues to shape up this summer, as park planners seek design bids for its youth center at the midpoint in their six-year build-out plan.

Six months following the opening of the gymnasium and racquetball center and receiving a positive public response, the second of three buildings to undergo renovations at the former cosmetic manufacturing complex on Golden Valley Road is about to enter the design phase.

The Parks and Recreation Department is accepting requests for proposals for designs and expects to begin construction of the youth center and multipurpose facility within seven to nine months, said Parks Department Planning Director Joe Inch on Friday.

``We envisioned this to be a five- to six-year build-out plan. Right now, we're in our third year, about to build our second building,'' said Inch. ``I'd say we're on track and where we'd hoped to be by this time.''

Available funding is enough to cover the design phase to refurbish one of the former cosmetic company buildings into the youth center, as well as designs to expand the skate park, outdoor challenge course and BMX course.

Funding for actual construction will come later. The Parks and Recreation Department budgeted $550,000 for 1999-2000 fiscal year for the design fees and will seek $750,000 for construction in its 2000-01 budget, Inch said.

Although construction funds for the skate park, challenge course and BMX course have not been identified yet, Inch said the city is saving money in the long run by rolling those smaller projects into the next design phase.

``A lot of time, you plan these projects and have the designs ready so that when you do find funding, you're ready to go with construction,'' Inch said. He added, ``A lot of times you get funding unexpectedly, when unspent funds from another project are suddenly freed up.''

For now, park planners are encouraged by the success of the first Sports Complex building completed in December - the 60,000-square-foot gymnasium and racquetball facility - and hope to begin work on the second building of similar size by next summer.

Parks Department officials recently reported that the gymnasium center is used by about 30 different organizations and receives more than 4,000 visitors per month.

The next building to be refurbished in the Sports Complex will house a community youth center, classroom facility, and various multipurpose rooms that may be rented by local organizations for meetings and events.

``It's more of a community building than a facility for sports,'' Inch said, noting that planners are receiving input from the public in designing its features.

With the city's focus on providing its youth with positive activities to dissuade them from deviant behavior, city planners envision the second facility to host such activities as dance classes or supervised teen dances.

Along with the completed outdoor BMX track, challenge course and expanded skate park, the third and last building at the former cosmetic company site to be renovated in coming years would house an aquatic center and 350-person multipurpose room, planners said.

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Photo: The second of three buildings to undergo renovations for yout h activities is on Golden Valley Road.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News