Bocce court at La Jolla Recreation Center slated for grand opening June 30

The long-anticipated temporary bocce court at the La Jolla Recreation Center is scheduled for a grand-opening ceremony at noon Wednesday, June 30.

The court, along the Draper Avenue sidewalk near the intersection of Prospect Street, has been in the works since 2017. Construction began last month after several delays.

“We did meet with a champion bocce ball player last week to look at” the court to ensure it met standards, La Jolla Community Recreation Group Chairwoman Mary Coakley Munk said at the group’s June 23 meeting. “He was quite pleased.”

The CRG, the Rec Center’s advisory board, also heard details from Coakley Munk about the grand-opening ceremony, which is to include remarks from San Diego City Councilman Joe LaCava, whose District 1 includes La Jolla.

“He wanted to throw out the opening ball,” Coakley Munk said.

The event also will include a bocce demonstration by experienced players.

The La Jolla Community Recreation Group meets June 23 to discuss the opening of the Recreation Center’s new bocce court and more.

(Elisabeth Frausto)

Once the court is finished and open for play, related equipment such as a set of bocce balls, a scoreboard and a rake and broom will be stored in the Rec Center to check out.

The bocce court project, estimated to cost $23,000, is funded by the nonprofit Friends of the La Jolla Recreation Center. If the court proves popular, a more permanent one will be incorporated in a planned Rec Center renovation.

Other CRG news

Slow reopening: “Things are coming back to normal slowly at La Jolla,” said San Diego Parks & Recreation Department area manager Rosalia Castruita. The Rec Center has opened more indoor areas in the past few weeks after being open only for limited outdoor use because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nets, paddles and balls for pickleball are now available to check out from the Rec Center office.

The weight room and indoor ping pong tables are open for use, though reservations are required. Reservations can be made by calling the Rec Center at (858) 552-1658.

“The whole point of the reservation is so we have your name and your number” for contacting those who may have been exposed in case of a coronavirus outbreak, said Rec Center Director Jesse DeLille.

Ping pong is available in the auditorium, DeLille said, with a limit of two people at a time playing singles. The weight room also is limited to two people.

Including Rec Center staff, there won’t be more than six or seven people indoors at any given time, he said.

DeLille said other indoor activities, such as civic meetings and yoga and cooking classes, will return “as soon as I can start doing indoor permits again.”

Per new guidance from the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, masks are no longer required at the Rec Center indoors or out for people fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Castruita said.

Future CRG meetings: Castruita said the Parks & Recreation Department recently decided that meetings of community recreation groups will continue to be held virtually, following the example of the City Council, which continues to meet online.

“We will follow that same guideline that they do until we are given different direction,” she said.

Coakley Munk asked CRG board members to bring to the July meeting “ideas of what we might do to bring more of the community members in [to the Rec Center] under the current conditions and use the facilities and encourage other activities.”

The La Jolla Community Recreation Group next meets at 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 28. For more information, call (858) 552-1658. ◆