Laguna Beach to host open house events for community and recreation center

Dates have been set for the public to tour the new Laguna Beach Community and Recreation Center, city officials announced at the City Council meeting this week.

Formerly operating as the St. Catherine of Siena School, the city purchased the property — located at 30516 Coast Highway — from the Diocese of Orange for $23 million.

The city will host open house events on Wednesday, March 8, from 4 to 6 p.m., Thursday, March 9, from noon to 2 p.m., and Saturday, March 11, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Walking tours of the South Laguna property will last approximately 20 minutes. Assistant City Manager Gavin Curran said that touring groups would be limited to about 10 to 15 people.

“We are really doing that to manage the crowd,” City Manager Shohreh Dupuis said. “There’s limited parking, so we don’t want to overwhelm the area with hundreds of people coming for the tours, so we’ll try this, and hopefully everyone gets a chance to come in.”

The Laguna Beach City Council approved interim uses for the site earlier this year. Those programs include adult drop-in basketball, indoor pickleball and gymnastics classes. The former school site has four buildings that amount to 39,500 square feet of indoor space, including a gymnasium and a chapel. There is also an outdoor athletic field.

Long-term uses for the property have yet to be determined.

Registration for tours of the Laguna Beach Community and Recreation Center will open on Monday at lagunabeachcity.net.

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