Bocce Ball Set to Roll Out at Palisades Rec Center

By ERIKA MARTIN | Reporter

The Pacific Palisades Park Advisory Board (PP-PAB) has submitted plans for design review for a new bocce center, which would be located in the upper picnic area at the Palisades Recreation Center.

The project design was set to be presented at the board’s July 20 meeting. Although the plans have been approved in concept by both PP-PAB and the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks, as of press time it was pending final approval by both bodies.

PP-PAB hopes the three bocce courts and picnic area will be completed by the end of the year, but the fate of the privately funded park will depend on financial support from community members.

Bocce ball is a lawn game in which players attempt to roll their ball closest to the jack, a smaller ball whose distance from the others determines a player or team’s score. The sport was developed in Italy and is prominent around Europe, though it is gaining traction in the U.S., popping up in parks, clubs and beaches in cities like San Francisco and New York.

Board members Jimmy Dunne and Bill McGregor have been spearheading the project, which also incorporates a revamp of the picnic area behind Palisades Branch Library to create an outdoor living room space.

For Dunne, the goal of the project is to create place where the community can connect and have conversations.

“When you visit these courts you see folks of every generation,” Dunne said. “It’s a fabulous way of bringing people together. It’s celebrating the fabulous sense of community and family that we have uniquely in the Palisades.”

Dunne originally got the idea to bring bocce to the Palisades after playing the sport at a public park in France during a trip to Europe. He said the center would be important in creating a social space for older residents.

“I really am excited about this for the community of Pacific Palisades,” he said. “I think the thing I’m most excited about is creating a place where senior citizens can come on a regular basis and be in leagues and have a wonderful community of people to get together with and enjoy the outdoors.”

The commissioning of the plans and underlying land survey were made possible through donations from Mike and Carey Skinner and the park fund established by Kurt and Haldis Toppel.

A representative from Recreation and Parks was also set to present the results of the department’s annual Park Needs Assessment, which evaluates public spaces throughout the county to determine funding allocation.

The Rec Center’s master plan and other projects were among those assessed. The facility is likely to secure some funds as its general infrastructure and condition was given poor marks.

Further out, the group is looking into the possibility of a universally accessible playground that would accommodate children of all abilities to replace the current sand pit design. Board member Lee Trask said the group is in the early stages of working with the nonprofit Shane’s Inspiration “regarding the steps necessary to put those wheels in motion.”

Board member Gustaf Soderbergh has also been working with the city on a redesign of the facility’s parking lot that would incorporate up to 20 new parking spaces.

However, PP-PAB must first receive Recreation and Park’s final assessment of its trees, many of which have succumbed to the statewide bark beetle infestation and will need to be removed.

If you’d like to support to bocce ball court, contact Jimmy Dunne at 310-459-7600.