On May 8, ground broke on one of the largest philanthropic investments ever made for Los Angeles youth just north of Los Angeles International Airport, a $150 million athletic and education complex to be called “Lulu’s Place” in memory of Carol Richardson Kimmelman, whose passion for tennis, education and Southern California was so great.
Lulu’s Place, located at the intersection of 92nd Street and Falmouth Avenue, next to St. Bernard High School, will be built on 31 acres of long vacant land and will feature public sports and recreation facilities including tennis, basketball and sandy volleyball courts, a full-size soccer field, playgrounds, walking trails and a dog park. Construction is expected to take two years.
“My four children and I are committed to honoring Lulu’s legacy and her passionate belief in the power of tennis and other sports to impart valuable life skills essential to personal growth and academic success,” said Lulu’s husband and lead donor Doug Kimelman. Kimelman attended the groundbreaking with her three eldest children, Annie, Robert and Tommy, who live in Florida. “This is a once-in-a-generation investment to create intergenerational change. Our goal is for Lulu’s Place to become a national model for making sports and education more equitable for young people.”
A sign announcing the development of Lulu’s Place stands on the 31-acre vacant lot.
(Steve Galluzzo/The Times)
Carol Kimmelman, known as “Lulu” to family and friends, was a Riverside native who graduated from Polytechnic High School and then joined the USC tennis team, leading the Trojans to a national championship in 1983. She went on to become a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, teaching at Raymond Avenue Elementary School in South Los Angeles, where she was a strong advocate for equal opportunity in youth sports and education.
She continued to play competitive tennis with clubs in New Jersey and, more recently, in La Jolla. As an active official with the USTA, she won the New Jersey State Mixed Platform Tennis Championship in 2009 and founded her own spin cycle studio called POE (Peace on Earth) while undergoing treatment for ovarian cancer. She passed away in 2017 at the age of 53.
“She loved Los Angeles, she loved her students and she loved living an active, healthy lifestyle,” said Doug, an investment banker who met his future wife in 1989. “Thanks to the support of many philanthropic partners, this ambitious vision our family dreamed of many years ago is now becoming a reality.”
In addition to the Kimmelman Family Foundation, donors include Jersey Mike’s, the United States Tennis Foundation, the Kirsch Family Foundation, Cedars-Sinai, Providence, the TGR Foundation, the Ballmer Group, Alfred E. Mann Charitable Trusts, the Rose Hills Foundation, the Hirsch Family Foundation, the Joseph Drown Foundation, the LA84 Foundation and the Walt Disney Co. Los Angeles World Airports has a 50-year lease on the land on which the athletic facility is being built to Lulu’s Place.
“Every young person deserves access to robust sports programs and educational opportunities,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who spoke at the groundbreaking along with City Council Member Tracy Park, County Supervisor Holly Mitchell (a classmate of Lulu’s at Riverside Polytechnic), LAUSD Trustee Nick Melvoin, LA World Airports CEO John Ackerman, Board of Airport Commissioners Chairman Karim Webb, USTA CEO Lou Shea and Tiger Woods Foundation CEO Cindy Cote. “The City is proud to be a partner in supporting the development of Lulu’s Place. Our collaboration is breathing new life into a site that will serve Angelenos for decades to come.”
Mayor Karen Bass addressed the crowd at the groundbreaking ceremony for Lulu’s Place on May 8.
(Steve Galluzzo/The Times)
In partnership with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Lulu’s Place also plans to establish a TGR Learning Lab at the neighboring St. Bernard campus.
“This is a huge win for students in our area and will be a catalyst for positive change,” said Paul Escala, senior director and chancellor of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. “We are fortunate to play a key role in bringing this incredible opportunity to our community and our children.”
Dr. Jennifer Winward, founder and lead instructor of Winward Academy, an award-winning online tutoring platform based in San Diego, considered Lulu a mentor and friend.
“From the moment Doug and his children told me about this project, I was proud to embrace the vision, roll up my sleeves and develop special programming for Lulu’s Place that would introduce students to college and career opportunities they may not have known about before,” she said.
Students from the nearby Loyola Village Fine and Performing Arts Magnet kicked off the groundbreaking ceremony with a rendition of the national anthem accompanied by student percussionists playing West African drums.
“This is the USTA’s most significant effort to integrate high-quality tennis and academic programs across the West Coast,” Shea said. “Not only will this project inspire a new generation to pick up a tennis racquet, it will become a community hub for kids to access the resources they need to succeed in life.”
