Dockweiler Beach Youth Center Dedicated

Nearly 20 years after it was first envisioned, a new youth and community center was dedicated this week at Dockweiler State Beach by Supervisor Knabe and County leaders. The $7 million project is jointly funded by County of Los Angeles Prop A and a grant from the State of California through Proposition 12 bond funds.

The new building provides a youth activity center at Dockweiler State Beach and will serve as the southern headquarters for the Los Angeles County W.A.T.E.R. (Water Awareness, Training, Education and Recreation) youth education program offering aquatic sports camps. The program was developed in 1986 to provide Los Angeles County youth with education and recreation regarding the water and beachfront environment. During this time, this program has been administered out of a series of trailers and storage facilities in Marina del Rey.

The 8,800 square foot building has multi-purpose meeting and training facilities, administrative space, indoor storage facilities, restroom and locker facilities and storage for beach equipment. Planning for the building first started in 1991, when the County originally approved the General Plan for Dockweiler State Beach.

This project is actually Phase 2 of improvements to Dockweiler State Beach. Phase 1 was finished in 2007, when the County completed $14 million in projects, including building four new restroom buildings, a brand-new entry kiosk, refurbishment of the maintenance/lifeguard facility, refurbishment of the RV Park, including conversion of all spaces to full hookups and resurfacing of the parking lots.