New Roxbury Park Community Center to Be Built Over Old Building's Footprint

The City Council unanimously agreed this week to move forward with "Site Study E" for the new Roxbury Park Community Center, a plan that calls for rebuilding the facility at the site of the existing center.

"I support E primarily because I do think it is similar to the footprint of what we [currently] have," Councilwoman Lili Bosse said at Tuesday's council study session.

Bosse  as an alternative to "Site Study D," which had been the recommended plan at the time.

As developed by architectural firm RTK, Site Study E maintains the basic components of Site Study D, but eliminates the need to demolish and remove a storm drain at an estimated cost of $250,000. Site Study D had located the new community center slightly north of the current facility, requiring the relocation of that storm drain. 

The main components of Site Study E include:

• One-story building.
• Multipurpose room located at the south end of building.
• No middle school-size basketball court.
• Movable stage in multipurpose room.
• Interior courtyard with entryway to outdoor seating area.
• Staff and community services located at center of building.
• Main entrance identifiable from both street and parking lot.
• Maintains open space, mature trees and both volleyball courts.
• Maintains outdoor basketball courts in preferable north-south orientation.
• Replaces cafe with vending machine lounge.
• Compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act and California building codes.
• Mechanical and electrical room located in basement.

With the multipurpose room now on the south side of the facility (as opposed to the north side as in Site Study D), it may appear taller because it is at the lowest point of the park's natural slope in that area, according to RTK. But by eliminating plans for a middle school-size basketball court, the ceiling height of the multipurpose room no longer has to clear 20 feet. The structure will be between 15 feet 7 inches and 17 feet 11 inches tall.

Site Study E has minimum parking space gain and no on-site drop-off location. But by scrapping plans for the indoor basketball court, the multipurpose room could be sized smaller, leaving additional room in the abutting parking lot for a drop-off site.

Both Bosse and Vice Mayor John Mirisch supported Site Study E as long as city staff provided more information on renovation estimates. 

"I don't have a problem with building a more modern facility that will serve today's residents on essentially the same footprint, and that would be E for me," Mirisch said.

A  of the current community center came in at $6.1 million. There is $14.7 million budgeted for the entire modernization project. 

Mayor William Brien, along with Councilmen Barry Brucker and Julian Gold, said at the meeting that they favored Site Study D, but agreed to support Site Study E to reach a consensus.

"I can certainly live with E," Brien said, noting that "there is a little bit of flexibility in the design." He did add that he favored having as much space in the multipurpose room as possible.

In agreeing to go with Site Study E, Gold voiced his support for building a new facility rather then renovating the current building.

"I don't see that [the current structure] is going to actually meet our needs in the future," he said. "I believe that the $6 million figure for renovation is wildly optimistic."

Brucker also supported building a new community center.

"When you choose to renovate a 50-plus-year-old building, there are a lot of unknowns once you break open the walls," he said.

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