By San Marino Tribune Staff
After many years in the making, the city celebrated the grand reopening of the San Marino Community Center last Thursday, culminating a renovation process that moved steadily forward despite setbacks along the way related to concerns about design and an environmental impact study.
The vision for the project began in 2020 amid the reconceptualization of recreation department programming, which shifted to be more focused on community-building activities than individual class activities. The renovation project cost about $8.3 million and was included in the 2020-21 capital projects budget.
“The opening of the San Marino Center was a substantial success,” said Mayor Steve Talt. “I appreciated the participation of many aspects of our San Marino family coming out to celebrate the newest chapter in our effort to rebuild community through the opening of our new center. Along with Lacy Park, the center will be a gathering place for meetings, recreation and events for whole town.”
The Community Center’s renovation underwent a lengthy review process that included community involvement. The city of San Marino purchased the site in 2005 to guarantee a public event space for the community. As the building began to exhibit the need for more extensive maintenance, the city formed a task force of community members to discuss ways to preserve this historic building.
Members of the task force included Al Boegh, Raymond Cheng, John Chou, Toby Chou, Steve Domier, Jaime Gertmenian, Jennifer Giles, Angela Liang, Calvin Lo, Steve Talt and Task Force Chair Ken Ude.
During discussions on how to move forward with the building’s upgrades, the EIR process revealed that some significant changes to the initial project plans would need to be enacted, including shifts in design and a mandate for specific types of monitoring during the construction. Some community members vied for the demolition of the existing building with new — and potentially cheaper — construction for the community center, but the EIR confirmed that the building was historic and could not be torn down.
The Center has substantial history, starting in 1953, when The Woman’s Club of San Marino opened the doors to the community building, which served as a meeting place and event hall over the years. Its doors were open for various local organizations and graduation, birthday and parent parties as well as provided a space for city council meetings, debates and town halls.
After seeing the sparkling results at the grand reopening last Thursday, City Manager Philippe Eskandar said he was duly impressed.
“Having seen pictures of the building before the remodel began, I’m blown away by how well the team was able to polish this community jewel and truly make it sparkle,” he said. “All the work by the City Council, Task Force, residents, staff and the construction teams has translated into a space that we couldn’t be more proud of to reintroduce to our community.”
Eskandar also highlighted how much he appreciated the new design and architecture.
“One of the most impressive aspects of the building has to be how much bright natural light shines throughout all of the spaces,” he said. “That, coupled with how versatile all the rooms now are, either used individually or collectively, with the technology, furniture and kitchen, the San Marino Community Center will certainly be a central hub for our community for years to come.”
First published in the Oct. 5 issue of the San Marino Tribune
