Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
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By Jana Seshadri Once a sprawling and serene campus on Remington Drive, the Sunnyvale Community Center grounds are now torn up and cordoned off in several places, making the south and east parking lots inaccessible. The Manet Drive entrance to the center has been closed to the public ever since the new 23,000-square-foot senior center construction project broke ground in April. "Are they trying to scare people away from using the facility?" asked Carol Cook, a Sunnyvale resident who has lived near the center since 1980. "People go to the center to take classes and cannot find parking." All three of the parking lots surrounding the community center are undergoing renovation, explained John Hopkins, assistant director of public works in Sunnyvale. The senior center construction plan, budgeted at $9.4 million, has always included the renovation of the parking lots, he added. A few hundred more people—mostly seniors—will soon be using the facility, so the community center grounds need to be readied for the added load. "We are going to add about 125 new parking spaces to the existing 300 spaces at the center," Hopkins said. "The plan also calls for improved circulation in the parking lots and increased van and handicap access." Sixty trees and hundreds of shrubs will be planted around the parking lots, according to Hopkins. The renovation project—planned to be implemented in three phases—involves a "complete improvement" for the areas surrounding the center, said Hopkins. While the completion of the project will coincide with the completion of the senior center by May or June next year, the east parking lot along Michelangelo Drive will be completely renovated and ready for use in less than two months, he said. "Thompson Pacific [the company out of San Rafael in charge of the construction] didn't have to finish this early," Hopkins said. "The contract calls for completion of the whole project by next year." Project manager Chuck Neumayer explained that the reasons for finishing the east lot earlier are twofold. First, if the lot is finished in a few months, it will make the center more convenient and easier for people and the lot will be ready before the cold and wet weather set in. Since the north lot is beside the theater and the art gallery, both of which are used throughout the summer, the east lot was chosen for the first phase, Neumayer said. The old irrigation and lighting will be taken out and replaced with brand-new fixtures, and the islands will be removed as well. The schedule and drawings, posted in the center's lobby, give a detailed description of the three-phase construction. The community center usually offers a variety of classes for adults and children throughout the year. Many of the classes, like the Jazzercise class that Cook attends, have a high number of participants who drive to the center from neighboring cities and require parking. "I've heard others complaining about it," Cook said. "Sometimes I have to keep driving around until I find a space somewhere. They're making it a lot harder for people." Cook said that class sizes have gotten smaller, but added that the decline in attendance could be due to the warmer weather and the onset of summer vacations. Not everyone who uses the center finds parking a problem, though. Ann Brown, who lives in Cupertino, attends the Jazzercise class at 4 p.m. but has not had parking difficulties. "Parking is not a problem for me," said Becky Crespo, also a regular at the weekly Jazzercise classes. "What are they complaining about?" asked one woman who preferred to remain unnamed. "They're getting a brand-new senior center and new parking lots." Come September, when vacationers return to work and students return to school, the community center classes might begin to fill up to capacity once again, causing the parking problem to resurface. "We're trying to plan and design for the future," Hopkins said. With improved layout of its parking lots and a more modern design, the community center complex—with its senior center—will attract more people, he said. Following the Sunnyvale City Council's direction, the new senior center, in addition to serving its present clientele, will be equipped to serve "younger older adults," he said. |
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