Today’s City Council meeting is likely to last many hours, but folks interested in followingor contributing to– the discussion on the proposed new Senior Center can show up or tune in at 5:00 p.m. specifically for this agenda item.
Two matters are on the docket for decision: (1) approval of a management plan for the new facility, and (2) approval of a floor plan. In approving a floor plan, the Council will select one of three proposals as the basis to move forward with a CEQA evaluation of the new center’s environmental impacts, and with preparing initial construction plans. The project will also proceed to the city’s Planning, Design Review, and Historic Resource Commissions for review.
The proposals, prepared by local architect Chris Ackerman of The Ackerman Group and Robert Coffee of Robert Coffee Architect + Associates, call for a new facility adjacent to the public library and the lawn bowling green, on the site of the existing Senior Center; but double its present size.
Scheme One shows a single story building of 8,300 square feet, with another 3,000 square feet of patio, deck, and covered porch space. Scheme Two is also a single story, 7,908 square feet, with 3,100 square feet of outdoor space, more of which fronts the park than the lawn bowling green. Both designs appear to reorient the entry from its current Seventh Street location to Orange Avenue, through the park adjacent to the library.
Scheme Three is a two-story structure with 9,276 square feet: 7,600 square feet on the first floor, and 1,676 square feet on the second floor, plus a 1,250 square foot covered porch. It was initially thought a two-story design could provide more space within the existing building footprint, but with elevators, equipment, and stairwells, this design too expands into the park. All designs add storage space, a kitchen, an activity room, and a Lawn Bowlers’ Club Room, as well as expanding the center’s multipurpose room, office space, lounge, and rest rooms. All designs require destruction of a number of Heritage Trees in the park. City staff recommends that the Council adopt Scheme One.
The staff report is silent on the matter of increased parking for the facility. The architects’ initial presentation proposed public transportation, dedicated street parking, or underground parking below the building as possible options. No further information about parking solutions has been offered. Also not addressed in the staff report are potential impacts on Coronado High School. Although planners for the project met with the Library Board to evaluate potential impacts on the library, it appears there were no similar efforts to consider how the high school will be affected by the proposed expansion, particularly as to parking.
How the City will pay for the project has not yet been explained. According to the City’s five-year Capital Improvement Program (“CIP”), the City allocates five percent of General Fund revenues to CIP projects each year. Those monies are combined with funds from any grants received, Transportation Funds, and Enterprise Funds to pay for the planned improvements. The Senior Center, however, is described in the CIP as “a special case for funds that will be identified separately.”
When initially proposed, redevelopment of the Senior Center was contemplated to come from tax increment financing through the City’s redevelopment agency. That avenue was cut off in July 2011, with the statewide elimination of such agencies. One potential source of special funds may be the gift left to the city by Frances Harpst. When the City accepted the gift, it deferred any decision as to how to use the gift to a later date. The City’s most recent investment report (also part of tomorrow’s agenda) shows the Harpst funds total somewhat more than $5.4 million.
Project costs to date for the Senior Center are estimated at $495,000, which includes the architect and consultant fees to develop the proposals and do some community outreach, and the costs for the upcoming environmental review, permits, and construction plans. Construction costs will vary depending on which proposal is selected. Estimates range from $5,943,000 to $6,547,000. In its June 18 meeting, the Council authorized a maximum construction and development budget of no more than $6,000,000.
The City’s decision to build a new “Adult Activity Center,” as it is now identified, began in January 2011, with a request from Bob Fitzharris, then president of the Coronado Senior Association, to renovate the existing Senior Center. At a March 2011 council meeting, city staff reported to the Council that demand for the facility was estimated at 4,000 participants. This figure may be based on 2010 census data showing that Coronado had a population of 24,697 people, of which 18.4 percent, or 4,544 people, were 65 years and over. But the leaseholder and operator of the Senior Center, the Coronado Senior Association, claims only 459 members, according Mr. Fitzharris. In other words, only 10 percent of Coronado’s seniorsless than two percent of Coronado’s total residentsuse the Senior Center.
The City affirmed the need for a new senior center in March 2011, as one among several public facilities to be improved through its redevelopment agency, but very little of the staff presentation or the Council’s discussion focused on the facility or what its renovation would entail. Instead, the possibility of using tax increment financing dominated the discussion, as Governor Jerry Brown had begun the process of eliminating redevelopment agencies and bringing their funds back into the state’s coffers.
For the next year, Ackerman worked on the project pro bono, holding meetings and presentations with Senior Center members. The City returned to the project in February 2012, when it awarded Ackerman a design contract with the overwhelming support of local residents who turned out for the hearing, but against the recommendations of city staff. The main thrust of the design process was to be an assessment of community needs and development of programming for the center, followed by a conceptual design to meet those needs.
The needs assessment phase relied on a survey that was distributed to “mature” Coronado residents in December of 2012, both online and on paper. 323 of the City’s 24,000-plus residents responded. Of those, 51 percent were over age 70; 92 percent were over age 50. The City completed the needs assessment with a public presentation on April 4 of this year, discussing the survey results. Ackerman presented his recommendations to City Council at its June 18, 2013 meeting, and the Council approved the recommended space plan and authorized a maximum building size of 9,000 square feet.
At its last meeting on November 5, the Council considered various plans for managing the proposed new facility, with staff recommending a partnership between the City and a nonprofit organization. The direct costs of operating and managing the facility, with its vastly expanded size and programming, are estimated to increase from a current level of less than $55,000, to approximately $270,000. This expense could be partly offset by income from renting the facility for private events. Staff projections of rental income fluctuate widely, ranging from $35,000 to $125,000. Membership dues from the two user groups, the Senior Association and the Coronado Lawn Bowling Club, are projected at $9,000.
City Council meetings are held at Coronado City Hall, 1825 Strand Way, and begin at 4:00 p.m. Persons wishing to speak to the Council are limited to three minutes, and may speak either during the “Oral Communications” portion of the meeting, following the consent calendar, or at the time of a particular item’s discussion, but not both.
Photo credit: City of Coronado
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Lei Udell
Staff Writer
eCoronado.com
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