River’s End Sold!
Finally after about a 3 year effort we sold River’s End Park. The park was purchased by Polish Center in 1970 with the understanding that it would be sold within a few years and a building purchased in Los Angeles that would serve as a Polish Home. Well, it took 49 years, but in December 2018 the park was finally sold. in the early years of it’s existence the park was used fairly frequently by the local Polonia. In fact, as recently as the 1990’s we had a picnic there monthly during the summer month. With the aging of Polonia, the increase in gas prices, elimination of the swimming pool, introduction of TV Polonia and the internet, the attendance at picnic events fell drastically. Younger Polonia was not interested in sitting around a picnic table, drinking Polish beer and discussing happenings in the old country. Even free admission did not help. In addition, the park requires significant improvements in order to function and it was felt that the additional investment required was not in the best interest of Polonia. Now with the funds gained from the sale of the park we can start seriously looking for a suitable locale for a Polish Home.
Polski Dom - Polish Home
Currently our most important project is to explore and eventually establish a permanent venue to house a community center for the Polish American community in Los Angeles. It has always been a goal of the Polish Center to have a place we can call our own—a home to not only our organization, but perhaps other Polish American organizations as well, such as the Polish American Congress, PNA, and others. This home could also be used as a meeting place, a library, exhibit hall, small concert hall. We feel that Polish American community in Los Angeles needs and would support such a home. A year ago we have commissioned and completed a Business Plan. Currently we are looking for suitable sites, which we will then evaluate with the help of this Business Plan. Though the need is great, it is by no means immediate. The Polish community in Los Angeles has been without a dedicated community center for decades and at this point it makes more sense to secure move forward diligently, yet cautiously to avoid potential pitfalls.