The equipment’s replacement is not funded and will take time to execute, La Jolla Recreation Center leadership says.

A damaged bench and playground, both removed from the La Jolla Recreation Center, will take much funding and lots of planning to replace, according to city officials.

The play structure sustained damage after a car drove into the fence on the Draper Avenue side of the Rec Center playground in Oct 2024; it was blocked off and then removed.

Only a portion of the structure was damaged, but “what was already there was outdated,” Juliette Suleiman, city of San Diego recreation area manager, said at the Dec 10 meeting of the La Jolla Community Recreation Group, an advisory board for the Rec Center.

“That’s why they ended up having to take the whole thing down,” she said.

There is a pending litigation claim to fund replacement of the equipment, but that claim would only pay for the damaged part and not cover the entire structure, Suleiman said.

There is no funding to replace the “pricey” play structure, Suleiman said.

There is currently a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for a new structure; the fundraiser’s organizer did not return lajolla.ca request for more information.

The seahorse-adorned bench that stood in front of the Rec Center for decades was also removed in early December, as someone vandalized it, cutting a portion off the back, Suleiman said.

Upon attempts to repair the bench, further cracks in its base were discovered, she said, “making it structurally just not usable at all.”

The city is looking into replacement, but if the bench is no longer manufactured and another is selected,  such a project would be considered “an upgrade,” Suleiman said, triggering “a bunch of issues, as far as ADA accessibility.” 

If a suitable bench is not available, the bench replacement may be folded into a current project to install new benches at the nearby bocce court. 

“The plan is to definitely replace it at some point,” Suleiman said.

CRG member Mary Coakley Munk indicated the nonprofit organization Friends of the La Jolla Rec Center would be able to assist with funding of both projects.