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Proposal for a children's center, gym on North Campus property

By Shannon Burkey

When the city sent out a request for conceptual proposals for the front two buildings of the four-building North Campus, the responses offered a variety of ideas.

After reviewing the nine proposals that were submitted, the city council now has a better idea of what it wants for the campus and will begin to work with the applicants of one proposal in particular to try and refine their idea.

Saratoga residents Alan and Lisa Beck submitted a proposal for the North Campus Child Development Center that proposes to demolish the front two buildings of the North Campus property and replace them with a gymnasium for the city to run, with all proceeds from its rental going to the city. The Becks also propose building a new child development center with a fenced-in playground that would serve 80 children in preschool and kindergarten.

The Becks estimate their project will cost roughly $850,000 and plan to fund it themselves.

"To me the front area was ripe for having children's needs and daycare, and if we could also work in a gymnasium, I'm very for that," Councilwoman Ann Waltonsmith said.

Of the nine proposals submitted, seven met the criteria set forward by the council. Each of the seven proposed some type of school or preschool. However, several of the proposals sought to utilize the back two buildings on the campus as well, which council members did not support.

When the city sent out its request, it was unsure of exactly what it was looking for. With the administration building newly renovated for public use and renovations on the fellowship hall set to begin, the council set out to solicit ideas for the front two buildings, which it did not have the funds to renovate.

Saratoga resident Jack Mallory was one of the forces behind stopping the sale of the North Campus to developers last year because he felt city-owned land and property was scarce and should be kept for the community.

"I'm pleased we're having these discussions. It sort of verifies to me that there are needs in the community that need to be met," he said.

By keeping the back two buildings for public use, Mallory said the city is preserving the principles the campus was saved on.

"I realize cost-wise that saving the front two buildings as far as the city is concerned doesn't make too much sense, and it probably makes sense to rent it out," he said. "We really need to think strategically about what we're going to do there, but a gymnasium is something we should think about."

Gymnasium space in Saratoga is scarce, and the city has long felt the need for one but lacked the funds to build it. Something else missing from Saratoga, according to several council members, has been daycare services and preschools. The Becks' proposal would meet both needs.

"I'm thrilled we got an option that's a gym. It's a start to something extremely useful for our community," Councilwoman Kathleen King said. "I think this deal is too good to be true and we should grab it and run. If you have the gymnasium and preschool and you could do senior activities there, too, we would have almost what I'd call a utopia in Saratoga."

King and Waltonsmith were in agreement, but not all the council members felt the same way.

"I'm not getting inspired by what I'm hearing so far; it's not hitting me that this is the best thing for the North Campus," Councilwoman Jill Hunter said.

Hunter said her vision for the plan of the campus was much different.

"I thought we'd assemble a group of citizens that would work with us and give us viable ideas and go from there," she said. "Maybe what you do is use the back two buildings, get something minimal in the front, then develop a plan. I'd like to convince Saratoga to pass a bond and put up a ring-a-ding gymnasium over there in 10 years. We're doing things piecemeal now, and I'm not feeling the passion at the moment."

But raising funds in the city is not always easy, both Waltonsmith and King pointed out. With a plan that offers two services the city needs, Waltonsmith said she is not sure why there is any hesitancy.

"The reality is the city doesn't have any money for these special big-time projects, and when we go out for money our citizens say no," she said. "This proposal is more than I even expected when we started to talk about it, and here the whole front has the potential for a redesign that's going to be pretty good for public use. I think we should go ahead and start negotiating with the Becks and start to try to flesh their proposal out."

With the council leaning toward a proposal with a gymnasium, Councilman Chuck Page said he didn't think it would be fair to the other applicants to move forward without giving them the opportunity to resubmit a proposal with the new direction.

"Maybe some of these other organizations didn't think that way because that's not their core, but now that they have specific direction, they may be able to provide something more," he said. "To just ignore them and negotiate with the one group isn't in the best public interest."

The council voted unanimously to have staff work with the Becks on their proposal, but not to rule out any other proposals that may now come before them with the new direction. A study session will be held in July, at which time the Becks' proposal will be discussed and other interested applicants can also offer their proposals.