Didion/Lewis Park Recreational Center Celebrates Grand Opening

Saturday, September 20, 2003, 6490 Harmon Drive

Sacramento, California, September 18, 2003 – The grand opening of the long-awaited Didion/Lewis Park Recreational Center will be held on Saturday, September 20, 2003 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Mayor Heather Fargo, Councilmember Robbie Waters, Assemblymember Darrell Steinberg and a host of other school and community officials and leaders are attending the celebration and dedication ceremony. The facility is a brand new multi-use recreational center, which provides a wide variety of uses for student programs, after-school activities and a much-needed facility for the community.

“The nearly $2 million dollar project was developed through a partnership between the City of Sacramento, Sacramento Unified School District, Didion/Lewis Park Recreational Center Committee and the State of California,” said Councilmember Robbie Waters. “The cooperation and collaboration to make this project a reality was just superb.” The facility provides assembly and gymnasium space for both the adjacent K-8 school and the general public after hours. The Community and School Partnership Program and the State of California funded this worthy effort.

The 5,100 square foot multi-use room has a middle school length basketball court with two cross courts for practice and a regulation volleyball court which also has two cross courts for practice. Bleacher seating for approximately 100 spectators is provided and allows the facility to be used for basketball and volleyball tournaments.

Adjacent to the multi-use room is a 1,000 square foot raised stage. A movable sound partition wall allows the stage to be either opened to the multi-use room for productions, or closed for use as a separate practice/class room. Seating capacity of over 700 in the main room will provide adequate space for theatrical or musical productions as well as assemblies. The space below the stage provides storage for folding chairs on rolling carts.

The League of California Cities, a trade organization representing hundreds of cities throughout the State of California, presented its prestigious 2003 Helen Putnam Award of Excellence to the City of Sacramento’s Department of Parks and Recreation for the successful development and implementation of the Community and School Partnership Program. The award presentation was made on September 7, 2003 at the opening ceremony of the League’s annual conference.