$10 Million Gives Cabrillo Aquatic Center A New Lease On Life

By: Devonte Barr

SAN PEDRO — On Monday, Nov. 9, Assemblymember Mike Gipson took the podium at Cabrillo Beach with $5 million in good news for the long-idled Cabrillo Beach Aquatic Center.

Combined with another $5 million commitment from the Port of Los Angeles, the investment brings total funding to roughly $10 million, advancing plans to restore the waterfront facility ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games while expanding future recreational and educational opportunities for harbor families.

Although an opening date has yet to be announced, officials emphasized that the facility’s greatest value would come after the Games, when the waterfront property is expected to return to broader community use.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Tim McOsker praised Gipson and state Sen. Laura Richardson for securing the funding despite California’s difficult budget conditions.

“Mike made that commitment, but truly, it’s a tough budget, a really, really tough state budget,” McOsker said, recalling an excited phone call from Gipson after the appropriation cleared Sacramento. “He said, ‘We got it. We made it through.’”

McOsker, who recalled the property’s earlier development during his time working at the Port, described the project as a matter of geographic fairness.

“This is truly an equity project,” he said, emphasizing the responsibility of public officials to leave something valuable for future generations.

Yolanda De La Torre, vice president of the Los Angeles Harbor Commission, said the improvements would prepare the center to accommodate Olympic sailors and international training teams. Earlier this year, more than 400 sailors from 47 countries, including over 70 Olympians, participated in two weeks of Olympic-class racing along the LA Waterfront.

“For me, what’s more exciting is what happens after the Games,” De La Torre said. “These improvements and the legacy of the Olympic Games will put a new long-term operator in a strong position to restore and expand recreational, educational, and workforce training programs for our young people and their families.”

Preparations are already advancing. The Oct. 22 Harbor Commission agenda included a proposed contract worth up to $172,912.95 for two docks and gangways at the aquatic center.

Peter Settelmayer of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor welcomed the investment, emphasizing the opportunities it could create for children throughout the harbor.

“We know that our youth in Wilmington, in Harbor Gateway, and Harbor City might drive by the port, might see the port from a distance, but never have gotten this close,” Settelmayer said. “What an opportunity to have a place to learn to sail in this beautiful venue. What an opportunity to have a place to learn to swim.”

The announcement follows years of deferred maintenance, closures and uncertainty surrounding the center’s future. Greater Los Angeles Scouting, which operated youth programs at the facility for decades, publicly opposed the port’s termination of its lease, effective Dec. 31, 2025.

Harbor Commissioner Lee Williams has since outlined plans to select a permanent operator through a competitive proposal process in 2027. Questions surrounding public scheduling, community programming and long-term access guarantees remain unresolved.

Closing the ceremony, Gipson credited Richardson, McOsker and port leadership for their efforts during state budget negotiations.

“When it comes to our children, they’re worth fighting for,” Gipson said. “Some kids never get that opportunity; they only see it on television. But now they have an opportunity not only to get close to the ocean, but also have an opportunity to actually swim.”

The event concluded with officials and community partners posing beside a ceremonial check representing the combined $10 million investment.

For San Pedro, the funding represents a significant step toward reviving a waterfront institution. Whether the promised community access survives beyond the Olympic spotlight will determine the project’s lasting success.