Palisades Fire rebuild continues with plans for rebuilt rec center

LOS ANGELES - Officials in the Pacific Palisades announced plans to reconstruct the Palisades Recreation Center on Thursday, months after the center was destroyed in the Palisades Fire.

What we know:

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Rick Caruso, her opponent in the 2022 mayoral election, held the joint press conference Thursday morning, alongside Los Angeles Lakers' Head Coach JJ Redick.

The new park will include a gym, sports fields and tennis, pickleball and basketball courts. The previous Palisades Rec Center burned down during January's Palisades Fire.

A partnership between the City of Los Angeles, Caruso's Steadfast LA and the LA Strong Sports Foundation will carry out the project.

What they're saying:

"We need to reimagine and rebuild this park," said Redick.

Mayor Bass called the construction "a step forward" for the Pacific Palisades on their road to recovery after the fire.

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Renderings of the proposed reconstructed rec center and park

Caruso said the park will be, "no doubt one of the greatest parks in the United States for families."

Caruso has been critical of the mayor’s handling of the Palisades Fire since day one. As the fire ripped through town, he called FOX 11 to share his thoughts during the broadcast.

On Thursday, some residents thanked them for putting aside differences for the Rec Center project. While the mayor emphasized urgency on the rebuild, saying things are moving faster than expected.

Dig deeper:

One concern residents and builders have expressed to FOX 11 is security checkpoints currently setup to access the Palisades. The checkpoints cause lines of traffic that can have construction crews and homeowners sometimes waiting for an hour to get to their home.

FOX 11 asked Bass and Caruso how they feel about the security checkpoints.

"That’s something I want to come together with the neighbors to decide," said Bass. "It is something, people want to be here, they want to make sure [they are] secure, but on the other hand, it’s really a barrier. I was talking to several of the leaders just yesterday about what do we do to phase this out, but [also] keep people secure at the same time."

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"It’s a ridiculous thing that you’re waiting two hours and you're checking someone’s driver’s license. What are we doing here," said Caruso. "I called the founder of Clear. I said, ‘Would you develop an app on Clear and donate it to the city that gets people on their phone clearance that they could just drive up, get cleared and go?"

The two political rivals still disagree on some things, but are now teaming up for the new rec center.

"Working together with private philanthropy, that’s the way we can get things done quickly," said Bass.