The city is moving forward with the planning and design of a new senior center on the site of the present facility that is adjacent to the library and the lawn bowling green. Resident input to the planning process has come predominantly from a 12 person Ad Hoc Senior Center Advisory Committee composed of representatives of the Senior Association, Lawn Bowling Club, Library Board, Coronado Sharp Hospital, Park and Recreation Commission, Design Review Commission, various other citizens and six city staff members. Also, a citizen survey was conducted in December 2012. A total of 323 responses were received. Ninety-two percent of the respondents were over 50 years of age and 51 percent were over 70 years old. Sixty-six percent of the respondents are users of the existing senior center.
Despite the public input that has been provided to date, additional public comment may be valuable to the City Council as it decides how to proceed. However, time is of the essence. At its meeting earlier this month the City Council received a report on alternative approaches for managing the new center. These options are explained in the recent Residential Reporter article Council Meeting Report: Nov 5. At its November 19th meeting the City Council will receive a report on the alternative design concepts for the new center. (Included at the end of this article are the drawings that depict the footprint of the existing senior center and three alternative floor plans for a new center.)
Readers are encouraged to provide their comments on the proposed new center and any questions that they feel should be addressed before the City Council decides how to proceed. A factor that may warrant comments or questions is the number of trees that would be removed in order to accommodate the alternative floor plans. The number ranges from six to 10. Other factors are the basis for the size of the new facility and the spaces within it, the assumptions that have been made about the programs that would be accommodated and the population that would be served, and how these assumptions compare to the present membership of the Senior Association. The present membership of the association is approximately 400 or 13 percent of the city’s population that is 65 or older.
Residents may also have questions and comments about the estimated construction cost of the new center. In June 2013 the estimated cost of the project was $5,774,000 based on a facility of 7,395 square feet in area excluding any allowance for internal circulation and an entrance lobby and making no allowance for exterior spaces. (The proposed space requirements program for the senior center appears at the end of this article.) This compares to an existing center of 3,791 square feet in area excluding internal circulation. The three alternative design concepts for the center range in area from 7,660 to 9,276 square feet, again excluding any allowance for an entrance lobby and internal circulation. Further, the three concepts include from 3,070 to 3,800 square feet for patio, deck, covered-porch areas. Based on the changes that have been made in the estimated size of the center, the construction costs should be updated based on the floor areas of the three concept designs.
The estimated operating cost of a new facility may warrant comment and questions. The operating cost was estimated in June to range from $75,000 to 250,000 per year. At the November 5th City Council meeting the operating cost was estimated to range from $265,000 to $276,000 depending on the assumed staff cost. The share of the operating costs that should be borne by the city is another area of potential comment and question. The members of the senior association presently pay $30 in annual dues. Seasonal members pay $5 a month for up to six months . The existing senior center is leased to the association by the city for a $1 per annum and the association received $34,220 from the city to help offset the operating cost of the center.
Other areas that may warrant comments and questions are how much parking is planned for the new facility and how it will be provided. Also, the construction duration of the project will range from 18 to 24 months in duration. Topics that need to be addressed include the impact of the additional demand for parking on the adjacent neighborhood and whether temporary facilities will be provided for the senior center programs during construction and at what cost to the city.
Another area of potential inquiry and comment is whether it is possible to harmonize successfully the design of a new center of the scale that is being proposed with the library and Library Park, and its impact on its overall setting that includes the library, Library Park (open space), bowling green, tennis courts and other improvements on the block. Since the original library was built in 1909, improvements on the block have proceeded without the benefit of an overall master plan or integrated design concept.
If you have comments and questions that should be addressed before the City Council determines how to proceed with a new center, please submit them to the Mayor and City Council members. Their e-mail addresses are as follows: [email protected], [email protected];[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]. Also, if you send your questions and comments to Coronado CAN! at [email protected] will be posted on The Residential Reporter. The hope is to generate additional public input that will help the City Council make the best decision possible about the best course of action regarding the proposed senior center.
Finally, you are requested to complete a literally 2-minute survey on the new senior center and its importance to you. Please take the survey now.
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The Residential Reporter is the official publication of the Coronado Community Association of Neighbors (Coronado CAN!). This article is reprinted by permission as part of a collaboration between Coronado CAN! and eCoronado.com to enable residents to stay more informed about civic issues, with the ultimate goal of better protecting and preserving Coronado’s small town character and charm.
To read more articles like this one or learn more about this non-profit, non-partisan, all-volunteer organization, visit the Coronado CAN! website.
