Supervisor Reviewing Downsized Nature Center

Supervisor Don Knabe is reviewing a downsized version of a controversial nature center proposed for Friendship Park, which straddles San Pedro and Rancho Palos Verdes.

The plan, submitted by the Friendship Park Citizens Advisory Committee, calls for a smaller nature center to be located near an existing parking lot instead of atop a hill overlooking the 123-acre park.

The committee, which was appointed by the supervisor, recommended that a proposed 6,400-square-foot nature center be reduced to no more than 4,000 square feet and be built with natural materials compatible with the park’s surroundings.

Moving the building near the existing parking lot would eliminate the need to build a 66-car parking lot and another road to the center.

The nature center was approved in 1995 by the Board of Supervisors as a monument to retiring Supervisor Deane Dana. But a group called Friends of Friendship Park filed a lawsuit asking a judge to reevaluate the project. A Superior Court judge ruled last year that the project could proceed.