Another target of San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposed budget cuts may have to be parks and recreation centers. The mayor is proposing cutting a $5.4 million from the department. Part of those cuts includes potentially shutting down the La Jolla Recreation Center. “I feel like if they take the rec center away, there’s a couple more places to have birthday parties, but I feel like this is just a great place,” Hannah Silverberg said. Hannah is among hundreds of people who have spent time there. “I kind of use it as a baseball field,” George Gines told NBC 7 San Diego. “I like to come here and hang out with my friends and play soccer. All sports,” Mila Wills said. The 111-year-old facility has been a staple in the community, but the city of San Diego said it could be on the chopping block as part of its proposed budget cuts. According to a city analysis, shutting down La Jolla Recreation Center would save the city at least $200,000 per year. In a statement to NBC 7, a spokesperson for the city said in part, “should the La Jolla Recreation Center be selected as a site to be fully closed when the FY 27 budget is adopted, it would no longer function as a recreation center, but the surrounding park and playgrounds would be open as they are now and would continue to be maintained.” La Jolla residents like Matt Powers said shutting the center down should not even be an option. “Seniors use the inside space, they host classes here, they host meetings where like lifeguards come and talk about safety stuff,” Powers said. A local mother created this online petition to stop the closure. She said in part, “The La Jolla Rec Center is truly a special place where people of all ages and backgrounds can meet and spent time together. It would be a huge loss and absolutely devastating to our community if we lost such a diverse and safe community recreational space.” Stephanie Silverberg agrees. “I know that money does add up, but again, this is part of the community and so many kids and families come here and it’s just too important to have anything close or change,” Silverberg said. Other neighbors like Carrie Morrison said there should be other alternatives for the city to consider. “I think we could get around that. I think we should keep the rec center open. As you can see today, there’s a lot of kids here. It’s really about providing a place for the kids to go,” Morrison said. NBC 7 reached out to councilmember for District 1 Joe La Cava for an interview, but he was unavailable. However, on Thursday he posted on his Instagram page saying in part, “We must make hard decisions over the next few weeks to deliver a balanced, responsible budget. Even so, proposed cuts to critical D1 community resources go too far,” adding that he’s working to identify alternatives to ensure residents have access to vital public spaces. ...read more read less