On the grounds where generations of children played and families gathered, Los Angeles city leaders and community partners broke ground Tuesday on a new Palisades Recreation Center — a more than $50 million project intended to restore one of the neighborhood’s central gathering places after the deadly January 2025 wildfire.
The philanthropically funded project is the largest public-private partnership in the history of the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, according to project organizers. Construction is expected to take 14 to 16 months.
The groundbreaking brought together Mayor Karen Bass, City Councilmember Traci Park, developer and Steadfast LA founder Rick Caruso, Los Angeles Lakers head coach and LA Strong Sports co-founder JJ Redick, Recreation and Parks officials, designers and Palisades community leaders. Their message was that rebuilding the recreation center is about more than replacing damaged facilities: It is about restoring a place where neighborhood life can resume. “Today is about the Palisades community. Today is about hope,” Bass said. “Rebuilding the Rec Center is a vital step — where families can come together, children can play and neighbors can connect. It’s about restoring places that bring people together and make a neighborhood feel like home.”
Bass said the City Could not have advanced the project alone, crediting the partnership among government, philanthropy, the private sector and community organizations. She called the groundbreaking a symbol of recovery and the city’s commitment to the Palisades. “Not a day goes by that I don’t think about the devastation of the fires,” Bass said. “The pain it caused in the Palisades was felt across the city. That loss stays with me every single day.”
The existing recreation center and surrounding park were severely damaged in the Palisades Fire. In April 2025, Steadfast LA, LA Strong Sports and the city formed a partnership to fund, redesign and rebuild the site. The groundbreaking follows the Aug. 15 reopening of Palisades Village, another visible milestone in a recovery that remains incomplete for many residents.
Park recalled visiting the area on Jan. 8, 2025, while the fire was still raging and seeing businesses, homes and much of the community already gone. “The Rec Center was always the heart of the Palisades,” Park said. “Generations of kids played here. Families spent so many weekends here. Seeing this place on that day was heartbreaking, but today feels very different. Today, we are here to talk about what we are going to rebuild.”
Park pointed to the reopening of Palisades Village, the return of schools and businesses and Friday night football at Palisades High School as signs of movement. “Everywhere I look, I see progress,” she said.
The rebuilt 17-acre park and indoor recreation center, designed by Gensler and SWA Group, will include two indoor basketball courts, two indoor pickleball courts, an enlarged lobby and community rooms for parties, ceremonies and meetings.
Plans for the grounds call for a two-level playground built into the site’s natural slope and connected by embankment slides, a new U10 soccer field, two lighted outdoor basketball courts and a central gathering area known as the Pali Hub. The design also includes terraced spectator seating, shaded seating pods, bocce courts, an enhanced Veterans Garden and improved access into and out of the property.
For Redick and his wife, Chelsea, the project is personal. They co-founded LA Strong Sports with Charles and Jenna Jackson and Kylee Kilgore after the fires to help rebuild and expand sports and recreation facilities across Los Angeles. “The Pali Rec Center was a big part of why we chose to move here with our family,” JJ and Chelsea Redick said in a statement. “We believe every community needs a place where individuals and families can play and compete, and rebuilding the Pali Rec Center is a big step for ours.”
Caruso said the project reflects the principle behind Steadfast LA’s recovery work. “When we formed Steadfast, we had a strong principle to live by, which is the comeback is always stronger than the setback,” Caruso said. “Today represents that. The comeback here today means we’ll have a better park, a more cohesive park with more facilities for kids and families, and more for seniors.”
The collaboration has also involved Deputy Mayor of Strategic Partnerships Amanda Daflos, Recreation and Parks General Manager Jimmy Kim, project manager Freeman Group and Latham & Watkins, along with local organizations that helped shape the plans.
Andy Cohen, global co-chair of Gensler and a Steadfast LA board member, called the recreation center and park “the beating heart” of the community and said the goal was to honor that legacy while creating a place that will serve children and families for generations.
Bass said she hopes to return next year for the ribbon cutting. For a community still living with the physical and emotional consequences of the fire, this ceremony marked the moment one familiar piece of the Palisades moved from planning into construction.