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Maravilla community kids playing handball at the Maravilla Handball Court; photo by LAC staff

On February 13, the Maravilla Historical Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, held a fundraiser to kick off their capital campaign to purchase and restore the oldest handball court in East Los Angeles. The event netted approximately $900 and was held in partnership with the Conservancy, Mexican American University, Chicano Round Table, A.D.E.L.A.N.T.E/ Moving Forward, Southern California Old Timers, and Mujeres de Lynwood.

For more information or to donate to the capital campaign, visit the Maravilla Historical Society website.

A young boy and girl play handball at the first-ever co-ed youth tournament; photo by LAC staff

Articles on the event:

Los Angeles Times — "Extending a hand to a faded East L.A. handball court"
89.3 KPCC FM— "Group works to preserve East L.A.'s Maravilla Handball Court"

The Issue

The Conservancy is working with the Maravilla Historical Society to preserve the oldest handball court in East Los Angeles. Built brick-by-brick by East L.A. residents in 1923, the Maravilla Handball Court reflects the rich layers of history common in Los Angeles.

Maravilla preservation advocates gather for a "This Place Matters" photo; photo by LAC staff

“It is my passion to save the legacy of my people, my community, and our Chicano culture,” says MHS President Amanda Perez, who grew up in the Maravilla neighborhood and has garnered broad support on this preservation issue. “We want this place to be a beacon for all to come and step into the past, present, and future.”

In December 2009, the MHS organized the court’s first-ever co-ed youth handball tournament. Attended by over twenty-five local boys and girls, the event helped introduce the sport and the historic court to a new generation of players. Veteran players attended to mentor participants, including young girls eager to learn the sport.

El Centro grocery after its 2007 closing; photo by LAC staff

The effort to preserve the Maravilla Handball Court is part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s This Place Matters campaign, spearheaded locally by the Conservancy, which identifies important historic sites that merit national attention. The National Trust for Historic Preservation profiled the Maravilla Handball Court on its website during Latino Heritage Month in September 2009.

History

A photo of Michi and Tommy Nishiyama hangs inside the Handball Court.

From 1923 to 2007, the court was home to the men’s-only Maravilla Handball Club. In the early 1940s, Michi and Tommy Nishiyama purchased the land following Michi’s internment at a Japanese relocation camp. The family opened a local El Centro grocery store next to the court; the store and court together became an important historic and cultural landmark to East Los Angeles residents. Maravilla was also the only court in East Los Angeles where players still played bola basca, also known as Basque pelota. This court sport, played with one’s hand or a racket, is commonly seen in Basque communities throughout Oregon and Idaho.

The Nishiyama family in front of their store in the 1960s. Photo courtesy Tommy Nishiyama.

In 2006, Michi passed away; Tommy followed a year later, and the court and store were closed. The site was boarded up for a year, until Amanda Perez and the Maravilla Historical Society began efforts in 2008 to restore the court and store for community residents to appreciate, use, and learn about an important part of their neighborhood’s history. Residents and handball veterans who remembered the legacy of the court took up the cause to save the building.