It has a gym. It has a teen center. And with Sunday’s well-covered dedication, the new $4.5 million state-of-the-art Ferne Milken Youth & Sports Complex — an addition to the Bernard Milken Jewish Community Campus in West Hills — now has a lot of visibility.
The afternoon-long dedication event evinced enough athletic star power to attract the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Daily News, and remote crews from various local television news outlets. Former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, recent Dodger outfielder Shawn Green, retired UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, football legend Rosie Grier, former Harlem Globetrotters “Smooth” Sterling Forbes and “Special K” Kevin Hildreth, and perhaps the most colorful athlete in American soccer, World Cup athlete Alexi Lalas, were all on hand for the big kick-off.
The Youth & Sports Complex brings several welcome additions to the Milken Campus, including the Gerry and George Gregory and Family Gymnasium, a 12,000-sq. ft. gym with a tournament-size basketball court, a clerestory, and bleachers that can seat up to 800; Rita’s Room, a 3,000-sq. ft. multipurpose facility; a Jewish Sports-Hall-of-Fame area; and the 2,000 sq. ft. Farber Teen Center, complete with lounge, game area and pizza oven. WLC Architects, a prestigious local firm specializing in the design of recreation, community and civic centers, was hired to integrate the Youth & Sports Complex with the existing campus.
