Foster City’s long-anticipated Community Center rebuilding project is nearing completion, with city staff lauding the project’s progress and stable budget.
Talks to get rid of the old center, built in 1974 in Leo J. Ryan Park, ramped up around 2016, largely motivated by structural deficiencies, however, the process was punctuated by budgetary and pandemic-related delays. While the city scaled back on some of its prior upgrades, the center will include, among other amenities, updated playgrounds and more room rentals, which is a primary source of revenue for the facility.
Structural work on the new center is mostly complete, with interior finishing and exterior improvements remaining the final items, according to a recent staff report. Permanent power from Pacific Gas and Electric was secured at the beginning of the month.
“Now that we have permanent power, the team is able to start conditioning and doing a lot of the testing required to really occupy the building,” Senior Engineer Justin Lai said during a recent Foster City Council meeting. “That includes testing the elevators, fire systems and all the life-saving equipment inside.”
Solar panels and architectural cladding are in the process of being installed, and amenities like a new play structure and resurfaced bocce courts are in progress as well.
The total contract amount is $45.7 million, with the majority of the contingency fund still intact.
“[That’s] a really healthy amount for the few months we have left on the project,” Lai said.
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Parks and Recreation Director Derek Schweigart also noted the building has been designated as a temporary evacuation shelter.
“We work with the American Red Cross. We work with our fire department. We have already been in discussions about identifying the community center as a temporary shelter place,” Schweigart said during the meeting. “It’s not designed to be a permanent shelter.”
The center will also include a childcare facility, which Councilmember Phoebe Venkat hopes can prioritize infant care.
“That is where the need is the strongest in our county. Obviously that’s not something we can dictate, but if we can, maybe apply higher weighting to any applicants that have that already or would have an active plan to address that,” she said.
Applicants for the center, as well as cafe and ceramics studio, will go before the council for approval this summer.
Last month, the city announced it would postpone its annual Fourth of July fireworks show again this year due to ongoing construction. Other Fourth of July activities will continue.
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