Belmont’s long-awaited Barrett Community Center upgrade could cost up to $83 million, and city leaders are still weighing which offerings to prioritize.
Discussions on how to revamp the center began around 2019, though they were sidelined during the pandemic to attend to more urgent issues. But since the end of last year, numerous community discussions, including open houses, have taken place to understand what residents would like to see from the facility in its new state.
The 75-year-old building that houses the current Barrett Community Center, located on Belburn Drive, was constructed with outdated earthquake standards and meant to accommodate a much smaller population, accelerating the need for a major revamp.
The center offers a variety of programs and is also a key source of children’s services, as about 400 to 450 children frequent the location each day. Previously an elementary school, which the city took over in the 1980s, the building is in need of major repairs and with that comes additional talks about the need for a centrally located emergency resource center.
“The resiliency center is the most important,” Councilmember Gina Latimerlo said during a City Council meeting Oct. 14. “Really making this the place where we all go and where we all meet is really important to me.”
According to recent cost estimates, the total cost for an updated center could range from $59 million to $83 million, depending on whether the city moves forward with an outdoor pool or gymnasium. Since 2019, other amenities and offerings may also change. For instance, with the recent rollout of transitional kindergarten in public schools, city staff noted a potential decrease in the number of proposed preschool classrooms from three to two.
“Things have changed from 2019 where now we have TK, so we have fewer kids going to preschool and for not as long,” Mayor Julia Mates said during the council meeting. “So I do think we need to keep that in mind when we’re doing the design and be as flexible as possible.”
The vast majority of the funding needed for the project hasn’t been secured, though some money has been raised from the Belmont Community Foundation. Last month, Stanford University donated $500,000 toward the project.
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