Willow Glen Resident
News
City working to acquire land for community center
By Stephen Baxter
San Jose officials are talking with landowners in the Hoffman Via Monte neighborhood to acquire space for a new community center.
In February, Hoffman Via Monte Neighborhood Action Coalition members voted on three possible sites for a new center, and city officials are working on the neighbors' first choice of buying one or two fourplexes on the corner of Mesa and Gallup drives to rebuild on the land.
Stephanie Holm, community relations director for Councilwoman Nancy Pyle's office, said officials hope to build a center similar to the Starbird Youth Center at 1050 Boynton Ave., which opened in June 2007.
"The community has shown they have a strong spirit and they'll make really good use of a neighborhood center," Holm said.
The two-story Starbird center has a classroom, lounge area, computer lab, game room and a large enclosed patio. The size and facilities in a new Hoffman Via Monte center have not yet been decided, Holm said.
In spring 2007, a 900-square-foot neighborhood center opened in a strip mall at 1180 Blossom Hill Road, Suite 2. It has a few computers and space to seat about 25 people for neighborhood action coalition meetings, but residents have said they want space for permanent after-school programs, sports and other activities.
The city planned in 2004 to build a 2,400-square-foot center on land leased from Almaden Hills United Methodist Church at 1200 Blossom Hill Road, but the city council rejected a bid to build the center in May 2006. The $1.4 million bid was more than double its budget, and Pyle and other leaders decided to lease the smaller center while planning a permanent building.
At a Hoffman Via Monte NAC meeting on Feb. 20, 2007, neighbors chose from three potential sites: The fourplexes on the corner of Mesa and Gallup drives, land near Chris Hotts Park on the corner of Via Monte Drive and Almaden Expressway, or an option to renovate a closed pool house and pool near the corner of Mesa and Tucson drives.
The Mesa and Gallup location would be more centrally located, many neighbors said, and it would be next to Cornerstone Community Church and its parking lot, which is used for events.
The Rev. Vince Staub of Cornerstone church said his congregation has worked with Hoffman Via Monte neighbors on cleanups and other projects, most recently to wash away graffiti and clean up debris on May 18. Instead of attending church services that Sunday, Staub said about 140 people cleaned up behind the church and in the neighborhood.
Staub said he had mixed feelings about knocking down apartments to build a community center.
"We like the idea of a community center there, but we are not sure we want people displaced," Staub said.
Holm said that if the redevelopment agency bought a fourplex or two fourplexes on Mesa and Gallup, the agency or the city would pay to relocate its residents.
In a strip mall across Gallup Drive, stores have been demolished in recent weeks to make way for a Whole Foods grocery store. The store is being built where Rite Aid stood at 1140 Blossom Hill Road.
The San Jose Redevelopment Agency has identified $1.7 million for the community center project, and more money may be added by the San Jose Redevelopment Agency in September, Holm said. Parking and setback requirements also need to be ironed out, she said.
