Coronado Seniors Rally to Remodel Senior Center

The has seen better days. It hasn’t had a major expansion or even a remodel since 1981, and many local seniors say its time to give the old place a facelift.

With the help of architect Chris Ackerman, interior designer Caroline Murray, local senior Francette Roeder is spearheading a grassroots campaign to remodel and expand the center. Both are donating their time and talent.

On Wednesday seniors got their first chance to view a “conceptual plan” of what the new center would look like. Close to 75 people attended.

Ackerman’s plans would double the size of the center from 3,600 square feet to 7,200 square feet by building out on the grass area toward Orange Avenue. His ideas for expansion include a large multipurpose room, an outdoor courtyard, a commercial kitchen, and a low sitting wall. Storage space and large restrooms are also sorely needed.

The expansion could be carried out with a minimal impact on the surrounding park, Ackerman said. Susan Keith reminded him that all parks in Coronado are considered historical resources and not one tree can be removed.

“The green grass is sacred,” said Keith, who is a former member of the Historical Resources Commission and currently sits on the board of the Coronado Historical Association.

“This is just an idea,” Ackerman reiterated. “We want other ideas from you.”

“It’s a placeholder to get the project on the capital improvements list,” Murray said. “The list is being put together this month. To get on the list you need a proposal.”

If it gets on the list, it will then have to pass muster with a number of groups including the Design and Review Commission, the Planning Commission and the Historical Resources Commission.

“Not a lot is known about its history,” Murray said in phone conversation after the meeting. “We’re still trying to research it.” The original structure was probably built in the 1920s.

At various times, the Boy Scouts and the city have used the center as a maintenance and storage facility. The Senior Association moved into the building in 1972. There have been several additions over the years, with the last major one in 1981.

The center sits among a cluster of trees on the corner of Seventh Street and Orange Avenue. With a state-of-the-art in front, a large recently expanded on one side and a Spanish-Mediterranean-style on the other, the structure looks forlorn and inconsequential.  

“The building is neither adequate nor attractive,” said Roeder. “In fact it’s rather shabby.”

The city owns the building and rents it out to the Coronado Senior Association for $1 per month, payable five years in advance,” said Linda Ferguson, the center’s staff coordinator. As of December 2010, there were about 459 members, who pay $25 a year to join.

As the landlord, the city is responsible for maintenance. For this fiscal year it has appropriated $170,000 for refurbishing. A project on the scale of what Ackerman is suggesting will require much more.

With Gov. Jerry Brown already eyeing Coronado’s , many at the meeting worried the project would never have the financial backing to get off the ground.

“If you don’t ask, you won’t get anything,” Roeder replied. Redevelopment funds aren’t the only source. Several people mentioned the money left the city. Roeder jokingly asked the audience “if any of them had a couple of million they would like to donate.” 

Besides money, the project will need some political muscle. Roeder used the meeting to start pumping it up. “Coronado has 4,000 voters over the age of 65 and 8,000 voters over the age of 45,” she said. “We are the single largest block of tax payers and voters in Coronado.”   

She passed urged everyone to write letters to the City Council and the newspaper. “Let them know we want this.”