La Jolla volunteers are floating a new weekly schedule that would trim La Jolla Recreation Center’s public hours down to 40 a week, concentrating access into the busiest times and eliminating Sunday openings. The draft plan from the La Jolla Community Recreation Group would cluster weekday and Saturday hours around high-use blocks while steering regular user groups toward renting rooms and staff time. The proposal comes as the city hammers out budget tweaks that will determine whether the center settles into a leaner schedule or absorbs even deeper cuts.
Community group outlines a 40-hour week
At a recent meeting, group president Alan Dulgeroff laid out a proposed 40-hour schedule: Monday noon to 4 PM, Tuesday through Thursday 10 AM to 6 PM, Friday 10 AM to 5 PM, and Saturday 10 AM to 3 PM, with the building closed on Sundays so staff can be focused on peak demand windows. The draft also floats giving established user groups the option to pay about $30 per hour to cover room use and staff time, a rate some leaders say would be tough to shoulder. Those specifics were reported by The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Budget context: mayor's revision and the city's plan
Mayor Todd Gloria’s May budget revision scrapped an earlier idea to close several recreation centers outright but left most facilities on a streamlined 40-hour model that aims to concentrate staff where crowds are largest. City budget documents describe the shift as part of broader belt-tightening to plug a significant deficit and to focus hours where demand is highest, according to the City of San Diego. The mayor has framed the adjustment as an effort to protect core services while still balancing the books, and reporting by KPBS tracks the back-and-forth over the revisions.
Local reaction
At the La Jolla meeting, the mood among staff and volunteers was a mix of patience and worry as they waited to see what the final schedule will look like. Recreation staffer Juliette Suleiman said “everybody is eager to find out where we are in terms of what the hours are going to look like,” while volunteer Lisa Kriedeman cautioned that a $30-per-hour rental fee, roughly $60 for a typical two-hour meeting, would not be sustainable without increased donations, according to the The San Diego Union-Tribune. The concern is straightforward: fewer open hours means less free or low-cost time for clubs and community groups, just as their costs may be going up.
What happens next
The CRG board voted to keep its recommendation flexible and to send the draft schedule to city management for a formal once-over, where staff will weigh program needs against staffing levels and budget limits. The City Council’s budget calendar sets final hearings and any last-minute changes in early June, with council members scheduled to consider budget actions at their June 9 meeting, according to the City of San Diego. City staff are expected to return a recommended schedule to top managers before any official changes to public hours are announced.
If the 40-hour model sticks, La Jolla’s recreation center would go from roughly 60 weekly open hours to a tighter schedule built around peak times, a shift organizers say could force clubs and drop-in programs to rework long-standing routines or start paying more to secure space. Families and youth sports groups across San Diego have already pushed back on the broader set of cuts, warning that reduced hours could shrink after-school access and chip away at permit revenue, a concern documented in local coverage. The CRG says it is hoping the city’s review will keep essential programs intact, while city staff have said they will release any final schedule and rollout plan after management review and council action.
