At long last

The project to replace the city’s aging Veterans Memorial Building/Senior Center was approved by the Redwood City Council in late May 2021, and the groundbreaking took place soon after: in mid-July. Often, not much happens for some time after a public groundbreaking, but demolition of the handful of buildings (and the park’s public pool) got underway in September. After that came preparatory work for underground utilities and the construction of the building’s foundation, followed by the erection of the metal skeleton that supports the building. That skeleton, which gave us the first glimpse of the building’s full extent, was completed by August of 2022.

Along the way, COVID had an understandable impact on the project. In July of 2023 the building’s projected completion date was adjusted for what I believe was the first (but not the last) time, to May 2024. I had been given a guided tour of the building in March of that year and, although I wasn’t sure then that the building would be completed by May, I had no idea that finishing off the building would wind up taking another two-plus years. Thankfully, in just a couple of weeks everyone will finally be able to see the inside of this 45,000-square-foot multipurpose building for themselves.

Redwood City’s new Veterans Memorial Building/Senior Center will serve a variety of purposes. It contains a good-sized theater (between 270-300 seats) that can host live productions, lectures and movies; a “mini-gymnasium” suitable for half-court basketball, pickleball and exercise and group activities; a second-floor open-air terrace with a track for running and walking, seating areas and gardening spaces; physical therapy and wellness rooms; multipurpose rooms for group activities, classes and crafts; an indoor/outdoor dining room adjacent to the building’s industrial kitchen; office spaces for nonprofit groups and the NFL Alumni Northern California Chapter; and a lounge/game room. Finally, the building includes exhibit space honoring local U.S. veterans and Northern California NFL alumni.

For all the building has, it has neither a pool nor large exercise rooms with weights and other workout equipment for use other than physical therapy. For those, we’ll have to wait for its sister building, which will be built and run by the YMCA and will be located immediately adjacent to the city’s new Veterans Memorial Building/Senior Center.

Having already toured the building once — although I’ll be very interested to see how the final finishes and details came out — I’ll be even more interested in just how comfortable the building feels inside. This new building was designed to take maximal advantage of green technology, and should not only be extremely energy efficient, it should do so while keeping the building’s occupants comfortable at all times of year. One energy-saving technology employed by the building is its many windows — both exterior and interior — which were carefully chosen to let in a great deal of natural light, thereby minimizing the need for electric lighting during most days. Clues to some of the building’s other eco-friendly tricks can be found on the building’s roof. Much of that roof is covered with enough solar panels to provide most if not all of the building’s electrical power. And between the panels are a handful of “solar chimneys.” Solar chimneys are actually an ancient, low-tech cooling solution; during the day, the sun shines on the chimney and heats both it and the air within. Because hot air rises, it exits through the chimney, leaving behind a bit of a vacuum that draws cooler, fresher air in through electrically-openable windows and vents located on the building’s ground floor. Ideally, these and other green design elements will keep the building comfortable (and well ventilated) on all but the most extreme days. As for those, the building relies upon energy-efficient heat pumps to provide active cooling and heating as cheaply as possible.

The project’s many delays will likely be forgotten relatively quickly once the public begins taking advantage of all that the building has to offer. This new building sets a new standard for Redwood City, one that will soon be followed by the next-door YMCA. Together I believe the two will be a major center of attraction for a wide swathe of Redwood City’s population, for many, many years to come.