Los Angeles Expo Center, a premiere recreation, sports, learning, cultural, neighborhood, and special events location, is right in the heart of downtown Los Angeles.

To be honest, I’m jealous of the residents and students who live next to this stunning and grand virtuosity in city planning built for the people of Los Angeles—and especially for its local neighborhood.

The Expo Center plays host to one of the premiere swimming facilities in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Swimming Stadium. It’s managed, staffed and maintained by the City of Los Angeles’ Department of Recreation and Parks.

The Roy A. Anderson Recreation Center is a hub of activity, both indoors and out.

It includes:

An indoor fitness gym

Two brand new state-of-the-art basketball courts. Can you say “Showtime?”

The Roy A. Anderson Recreation Center offers programs and services for all of their 30,000 plus members of all ages, including seasonal camps, art classes, basketball and soccer leagues, fitness and martial arts classes, career training, music lessons, and a youth orchestra.

It’s also home to the Kids in Sports (KIS) initiative, a non-profit organization providing youth sports programs for communities-in-need. No matter the weather, time of day, day of the week, month of the year, or anything else for that matter, the Roy A. Anderson Recreation Center always has an ongoing activity.

Behind the Recreation Center is the John C. Argue Swim Stadium, with its renovated, heated Olympic pool. Via a partnership with USC’s Family of Schools and the LA Unified School District, the Swim Stadium provides a free Learn-to-Swim program as well as a world class swimming venue.

The Swim Stadium works with local inner city youths to train them to swim for their Public Education Physical Education requirements. This is definitely a “sea change” in attitude and direction for the residents and their children.

Whereas before, many ethnic minorities were not afforded the opportunities to learn or to have access to a swimming pool due to the basic fact that none were locally available, now there are classes, teams, and the Stadium itself available for all age groups.

The schools provide the students and the Stadium provides the swimming instructors. It’s a win/win partnership.

The Swim Stadium is also the home of the City of Los Angeles’ Swim Team (COLA).

Used for both training and hosting events, the Swim Stadium provides members of this city wide program a constant venue and community for swim lessons, lap swimming, water polo, synchronized swimming, diving, and competitions.

Even though I didn’t swim while there, I will definitely be going back this summer to take a dip in the pool. With a cost of $2.00 to get in, well you can’t beat the price and the atmosphere! The cost also provides me the opportunity to also use the fitness center first.

But, wait, I’m not done.

Also included in the Expo Center is the

Ahmanson Foundation Senior Citizen Center which features a ballroom, kitchen, computer lab, and an urban mini farm.

It’s host to a wide variety of programs, and services for older adults. They offer computer classes, social clubs, yoga, fitness training, and cutting edge health programs provided via the USC Davis School of Gerontology.

These are just a few of the possibilities for older adults at this Senior Center.

Is there more?

You bet:

The Ralph M. Parsons Pre-School currently has over 80 children aged 2 ½ to 5, and provides them a well-rounded education in math, reading, science, recreation and the arts.

Now am I done with the Los Angeles Expo Center features?

Not yet as they’re two more features they provide:

The first is the W. M. Keck Foundation Amphitheatre. It’s an outdoor Amphitheatre that hosts various outdoor community and family events.

The second feature is the Expo Center’s Rose Garden.

It’s home to over 20,000 rose bushes and 190 variety of roses. Although it would be too easy to give you a teaser alone with a few pictures of the Rose Garden, I’ll do Travelin’ Local readers one better by giving it its own story, because there’s so much beauty to be seen, experienced, and provided there. So, stay tuned.

Travelin’ Local just gets better and more interesting because of places and things like the Expo Center. I had a wonderful and splendid afternoon just getting away from the humdrum of the rat race.

What type of recreational facilities does your neighborhood have? Taking advantage of your local public recreational facilities is always a fun and cost effective way to get the best bang for your fitness dollars.

Each day, I continue to be surprised at the various opportunities I find while Travelin’ Local.