ESCONDIDO -- A former Olympian and his wife are preparing to bring a new fencing gym into town and are asking the City Council for help, the couple said Monday.

Resident Saul Mendoza, who fenced for Bolivia in the 1984 Olympics, and his wife Victoria will ask the Escondido City Council on Wednesday to waive $11,500 of the $56,000 in city development and impact fees to build a 10,000-square-foot fencing training center on a vacant lot at 1770 S. Escondido Blvd.

The Mendozas already have support from Mayor Lori Pfeiler and Councilman Ed Gallo, who reviewed the request last week during a council economic development subcommittee meeting. The council members recommended the full council follow its policy of waiving 25 percent of the $46,000 in waiver-eligible fees for new businesses that provide activities for children and that renovate a target redevelopment area.

"I like it because it's another venture to improve South Escondido Boulevard," Gallo told Mendoza during the subcommittee meeting. "And it's another reason kids cannot say there is nothing to do in this town."

Victoria Mendoza said she and her husband picked Escondido for their fencing gym because of its central location and access from Interstate 15 and Highway 78.

"This allows us to serve a wider radius," she said. "We hope to cater to Rancho Santa Fe, Poway and on up to Temecula. This is a good central location for everyone."

Saul Mendoza began fencing when he was 11 years old and growing up in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, he said Monday.

"It was just one of those things where one person got into it and invited me over and I really loved it," he said. At age 17, he went to the Olympics in Los Angeles and placed in the top 35.

"I was really young," he added.

But he continued to fence, despite travels that included living in Hungary before moving 10 years ago to California.

For the last 15 years, Mendoza has owned and operated The Fencing Post, a mail-order fencing equipment company. Last year, he and his wife moved to Escondido. They are running the business out of their garage until the gym is built, which they hope to open in March 2004.

Mendoza said he plans to use the new training center to coach and rent out fencing strips -- the long rectangular area of play for fencing -- to other coaches. Fencing space is needed, especially in inland North County, said his wife.

"There is only one other permanent fencing center and it is in San Diego," Victoria Mendoza said. "Everything else is just that people decide where to meet and then rent out a gym."

Two local fencing coaches contacted Monday agreed with Mendoza that there is a need for fencing facilities and said they plan to move their clubs to the training center when it opens.

Chuck Alexander, a fencing coach and president of No Fear Fencing in Poway, said he trains 30 competitive fencing adults for national and international tournaments.

"We really are working from rec center to rec center," Alexander said. "When Saul (Mendoza) gets this going, I am going to bring my club to his center. It gives us an opportunity to not only build up the support for fencing but to also be able to build up the kids who need to start training at an early age if they want to compete with the Europeans."

Stuart Lee, the head fencing coach at UC San Diego, who also runs an Escondido fencing club for 50 children, said he rents room at a local Kung Fu and dance studio on East Valley Parkway.

"There is a need here," Lee said. "The space we rent isn't big enough for regulation fencing strips so it affects their game. The dancing studio has mirrors on the walls and wooden floors and that makes it the best place in town."

Lee added that he has seen an influx of children interested in fencing lately, thanks to movies like "Lord of the Rings" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" that feature swordfighting.

"It is booming," the 45-year-old Lee said. "When I was competing in my 20s you would go to a club and hope that one or two people would show up to fence. Now they have fencing classes every night and it is still getting bigger."

The council will consider Mendoza's request during its 4 p.m. meeting Wednesday at City Hall, 201 N. Broadway. The council's normal meeting room, Council Chambers, is under construction so the meeting will be held in the Mitchell Room.

Contact staff writer Erin Massey at (760) 740-5416 or emassey@nctimes.com.