Responding to Councilman Steve Tate
’s request for more public advice on distributing the senior and
youth center space in the planned $26 million indoor recreation
center, architects Noll and Tam returned with shared computer space
in the spotlight and a way to make future expansion easy.
Responding to Councilman Steve Tate’s request for more public advice on distributing the senior and youth center space in the planned $26 million indoor recreation center, architects Noll and Tam returned with shared computer space in the spotlight and a way to make future expansion easy.
The results of the Noll and Tam redesign were brought to City Council on Dec. 17. However, some council members had questions about the center’s financing in the face of recent clamor to build a new library and residents differed on whether or not teens would use their center.
Chief among changes that emerged from workshops with seniors and youth in November is a larger amount of shared space, including the computer room. Since seniors are expected to use the center before 2 p.m. and youth after, architect Janet Tam said she expected the sharing arrangement to work.
“The seniors gave up dedicated space to share 10 to 12 computer stations,” Tam said. “The computer room was important to them.” A small activity room for seniors was added, she said.
The main lobby, which separates the gymnasium and fitness rooms from the senior and youth wing, will sport a fireplace and tables for cardplayers and “hanging out in the lobby,” Tam said. Improving accessibility, the entry to the lobby is now only about 25-feet from parking and is off a friendly courtyard.
The redesigned youth space includes a game room larger than the lounge with a glass wall separating the two.
“The lounge will have a television and the game room a pool table plus six dedicated computer stations mainly for games,” Tam said. There will also be a minikitchen used by both age groups.
Council had also asked Tam in October to consider making the center conveniently expandable by future construction. She returned with three expansion areas.
A multipurpose room in the senior wing could expand from 2,000-square feet to 4,000-square feet. On the recreation side, both fitness and half-court areas are now expandable without having to move the retention pond or road when and if the need and funds develop.
Deputy Public Works Director Mori Struve said the center is currently at 50 percent design development and the CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) document is making the rounds of staff, collecting comment.
“We are on budget and on time,” Struve said. The next milestone, he said, is near the end of February when the design should be 100 percent complete.
Recreation Manager Julie Spier described some details about individual users.
“Morgan Hill seniors may be required to buy a yearly pass card – maybe $10 a year and more for nonresidents,” Spier said. Children ages 10-13 would be separated from those 14 to 17, she said.
“We will talk about the hours later and also what to do about teens older than 17 wanting to use the drop in facilities,” Spier said. “There would probably be a student discount.”
Spier said that, during the November workshop, seniors asked if they could use rooms in the community center now when they aren’t in use by paying groups and as long as staff was not affected. Spier said this will probably happen.
Currently the Morgan Hill Senior Center is located in the Friendly Inn on Crest Avenue.
Mayor Dennis Kennedy added that a youth center (other than El Toro Youth Center, also on Crest Avenue) might be available soon.
“We have a commitment in the Tennant Station shopping center to do something with an interim youth center,” Kennedy said.
Resident Mark Grzan, formerly a recreation administrator for the City of Sunnyvale, questioned whether teens would use the youth center when it was built.
“This is planned to be very much what we had in Sunnyvale – a teen area, a snack bar, dance and music rooms,” Grzan said. “The time when I was there very few teens came and it was only two blocks away from the high school.” The facility was eventually closed, he said.
“The greatest difficulty with this (Morgan Hill’s) facility,” he said, “is getting to it. It is not near any middle or high school.” Grzan said Sunnyvale (a city noted for its commitment to recreation) found that teen programs were successful if they were located on campuses.
“If you have them in the schools, if students can walk on over to the teen center for recreation activities and tutoring, they will do it,” Grzan said. “I am concerned that we are putting a lot of money into a traditional facility that they won’t use.”
Resident John Bryce had a different experience when he lived in Brisbane, a city south of San Francisco.
“We opened a teen center with a pool, a kitchen, a big screen TV,” Bryce said. “From the day it opened kids were there every single day and it was downtown, not near any schools.” He said his 13-year-old daughter can hardly wait until Morgan Hill’s center opens.
Kennedy asked the city staff to talk to Brisbane officials about their center’s success.
Councilman Larry Carr asked about bus routes and routes from the neighborhoods to the center on West Edmundson, next to Community Park. Carr also questioned whether design development should continue before council makes a final decision on building a new library. There is a suggestion afoot in the community to put the indoor recreation center on hold until more Redevelopment Agency funds can be found – possibly from a second extension of the RDA act.
Some IRC money could be added to $7 million set aside for library construction if the council chooses that direction. Following original plans for the library would cost $19 million but a phased construction costing less is now under discussion.
“There’s going to be a day when council and RDA will have to make difficult decisions on dollars,” Carr said. He asked for a timeline for the library.
“We can get scenario information in February and public information in a March timeframe,” said Councilman Steve Tate.
“I assume you will be asking for more RDA dollars,” Carr said.
“Right now we are living within what we’ve got,” Tate replied.
The library question is scheduled for a public hearing in late January.
