Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Recreation Center

Program Guide  Open Play Schedule MLK Area Guide

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Parade and Celebration

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Parade and Celebration Frequently Asked Questions

What's Coming

Spring Events

2026 Spring Soccer League

Ages: 5-16
Cost: $15 for all leagues
Activity Codes:

• Peewee: (130703)
• 10 Years & Under: (130704)
• 12 Years & Under: (130705)
• 14 Years & Under: (130708)

2026 Volleyball League

Ages: 10-16
Cost: $15 for all leagues
Activity Codes:

• 12 Years & Under: (130281)
• 14 Years & Under: (130280)
• 17 Years & Under: (130278)

Register Online!

Visit SDRecConnect to conveniently browse a variety of activities offered by the City of San Diego Parks and Recreation Department and Community Recreation Groups. It's as easy as One, Two and Three.

If you need assistance, please see the Frequently Asked Questions link at the bottom of the SDRecConnect website.

History of the Center and Park

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Park was acquired by the City in 1968 and dedicated in 1975. The park is 34.53 acres and contains a recreation center, comfort station, two playgrounds, outdoor hard courts, outdoor tennis courts, a community pool, a multi-use field and a ball field. In 2006, the George L. Stevens Senior Center was constructed in the eastern portion of the park. The Mountain View Sports and Racquet Club operates the tennis courts at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Park. The park has been named in honor of Dr. King for several decades, modified in 2026 to honor his attainment of a PhD.

An American civil rights activist and Baptist minister, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a prominent leader of the civil right movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. He advanced civil rights for people of color in the United States through the use of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience against Jim Crow laws and other forms of legalized discrimination, which most commonly affected African Americans.

A Black church leader, Dr. King participated in and led marches for the right to vote, desegregation, labor rights, and other civil rights. He oversaw the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and was the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Dr. King was one of the leaders of the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, and helped organize two of the three Selma to Montgomery marches during the 1965 Selma voting rights movement.

In 1951, Dr. King began doctoral studies in systematic theology at Boston University. Dr. King received his PhD on June 5, 1955, with a dissertation titled A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman. Dr. King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance.

On August 21, 2025, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Recreation Group voted unanimously to name Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Park to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Park to acknowledge Dr. King’s obtainment of a doctoral degree. The Parks and Recreation Board approved this naming on April 16, 2026.

Directions and Bus Route

Map this location

From Interstate 805, take the Imperial Avenue exit and head east, make a right onto Valencia Street and then left onto Skyline Drive. The center is on your right.

From state Route 54, take the Woodman Street exit, head north to Skyline Drive and turn left. The center is on your left.

The center is accessible by bus via SDMTS route 11.