The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Council OKs extension for senior center

But city studies options for moving both groups in the next four to Þve years

By Katherine Petersen

The Sunnyvale Senior Center, Sunnyvale Community Services and the De Anza College Senior Workshop will continue to have a home at the corner of McKinley and Pastoria Avenues, at least for the next four years. Several alternatives have been outlined for relocating the senior center and SCS, but the De Anza Senior Workshop might have to find a new home soon.

The Sunnyvale City Council on May 27 unanimously approved an extension on its contract with the Sunnyvale Elementary School District for the buildings that house these programs. The City Council also encouraged the senior workshop to increase its fundraising in case the program didn't fit into the city's future plans.

The public will have an opportunity to comment on relocating the senior center at an as-of-yet-unscheduled meeting this summer.

The De Anza Senior Workshop provides job training and employment for seniors, said program coordinator Donna Wolf. In not charging rent for the past 16

years, the city has been one of the program's three funding sources, along with local industry and De Anza College.

The City Council voted 6-1 to continue its free-rent policy for the next four years, with an option for a fifth year. Vice Mayor Jim Roberts voted against the measure.

"If we had to start paying rent, this program would go under," Wolf said.

Yet the school district increased the city's rent dramatically when it extended these contracts, and the city might move these programs to a new location at the end of four years, said Carl Clark, assistant director of leisure services.

The school district nearly doubled the city's rent with the new lease, from 37 cents to 75 cents per square foot. But, the district wanted to bring the property in line with its other leases and raised the rent to market value, said interim superintendent Ben Picard.

"We have met with the city for the past year and a half so this rent increase would not come as a surprise. We've worked on this collaboratively," Picard said.

If the city were to move the senior center in four or five years, Picard is confident the district could easily lease the site to someone else.

The most financially feasible solution to relocating the senior center would be to construct a new building on available land at Sunnyvale's community center, city officials said. The new facility's size would depend on whether it would house only senior center activities or Sunnyvale Community Services as well, Clark said.

"There would be enough space and parking for the two centers to operate jointly," Clark said. "The senior center's busiest time is during the day, while the community center's very busy during the evenings."

Other alternatives include purchasing the senior center's current site from the district, purchasing land and building a new facility or continuing to pay rent on the site near Washington Park, Clark said.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, June 4, 1997.
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