It took years just to get to the starting line, but Palo Alto's effort to redesign and ultimately rebuild the sprawling Cubberley Community Center purred to life on Thursday, when more than 250 residents presented proposals for the center's planned transformation.
Assembled in round tables and armed with maps and building blocks at the center's Pavilion, residents brainstormed, debated and presented concepts for the 35-acre campus, which is jointly owned by the Palo Alto Unified School district (which owns 27 acres, and the city (which owns the remaining 8 acres).
Some said the new center should include swimming pools, while others lobbied for senior services. Some thought the center is an ideal site for teacher housing, while others said it would greatly benefit from more green space and transit services. Some called for moving all parking underground and creating more fields, while others suggested more art facilities.
Once the sight of an eponymous high school, which operated between 1956 and 1979, the valuable but dilapidated campus at 4000 Middlefield Road is today one of Palo Alto’s largest land-use wild cards, with both the city and the school district eyeing major changes and improvements. For the school district, the site needs to be able to accommodate a future high school, should the need for one arise. The city, meanwhile, is looking to maintain and enhance the eclectic collection of uses at Cubberley, which today includes athletic fields, martial arts studios, nonprofits, dance studios, gyms and the playing fields.
In addition to the regular tenants, the center is also now serving as the temporary location for both Avenidas, the city's primary provider of senior services, and the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo, as both organizations are in the midst of reconstructing their facilities in the northern part of the city.
Thursday's kick-off meeting was years in the making. In March 2016, City Manager James Keene and then-school Superintendent Max McGee reached an agreement to extend the city's lease of Cubberley land, with the intention of developing a new vision for the shared facility by the end of December 2019. In June, the city and the school board agreed to hire a consultant, New Orleans-based firm Concordia, to lead the effort.
Concordia staff told the assembled crowd Thursday that the goal is to design a facility that can both accommodate a future school and make possible the wide range of community uses that residents have been calling for. The facility should also be flexible enough to accommodate shifting demands for services, Bobbie Hill, principal at Concordia, told the crowd.
"This is something that should last for 60 to 70 years and the way things are changing we have no idea what it will look like in 60 or 70 or 80 years," Hill said. "So we want to create something that is innovative, flexible and adaptable."
To get the process going, attendees assembled at about 30 tables and performed two exercises: First they determined what types of uses they would like to see and considered possible shared uses. They then used building blocks and pads symbolizing parking and open space to represent where they would place these functions at the community center.
The ideas were as varied as the participants. Shani Kleinhaus, a resident of Fairmeadow and an environmental advocate with the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, suggested three-story buildings with parking on the first floor, a "green" roof akin to the Facebook headquarters and community functions in between.
The table that included former Planning Commissioner Arthur Keller suggested keeping all parking underground, along with a new underground bowling alley. Their proposal allowed ample open space in the back of Cubberley, near Nelson Drive, and various multi-storied structures on the Middlefield Road side.
The group surrounding Don McDougall, chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission, opted to keep the center of the Middlefield Road frontage open and to put two separate parking structures on either side of the open space, with several modest-sized buildings interspersed in between. Their design also left open most of Cubberley's rear portion, which would be able to accommodate a future school and potentially new recreational facilities.
"This is one of the few places in the city where you can have a cricket field, so you can't preclude that as a possibility," McDougall said.
Comments
Downtown North
on Sep 28, 2018 at 11:09 am
on Sep 28, 2018 at 11:09 am
I would like to see the totem pole and the amphitheater remain in some way. For those of us who went there this is a piece of art, legacy from the school of yesteryear
Downtown North
on Sep 28, 2018 at 11:22 am
on Sep 28, 2018 at 11:22 am
If Cubberley is ever redesigned or renovated let's hope the new walls will be thicker than cardboard! The noise level between adjoining rooms is devastating; not worth the money to attend classes at that facility.
Registered user
Fairmeadow
on Sep 28, 2018 at 11:35 am
Registered user
on Sep 28, 2018 at 11:35 am
I was disappointed that the session was run in such a way that we were all encouraged to consider massive growth to this area. Single story was represented as an extreme to one side of our options, and 500,000sf was considered a fairly modest size (we were told we could go up to 1.5M sf).
Just tired of all the development. On the plus side, these are meaningful services for residents.
Registered user
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Sep 28, 2018 at 11:56 am
Registered user
on Sep 28, 2018 at 11:56 am
Several out-of-town people were at my table lobbying for specific programs. Did that happen at other tables?
Palo Verde
on Sep 28, 2018 at 12:18 pm
on Sep 28, 2018 at 12:18 pm
About why so big: Here's why: The population of Palo Alto has increased 20% since Cubberley Community Center was opened. With all the plans for more housing. the potential need for a third high school, and rising office nets for nonprofits and artists, existing community services will be even more stressed for space. We need to preserve our open space and increase the space for all the valuable activities and organizations, current and future.
About out-of-towners: The one at our table is involved in an important health activity at Cubberley. One of the many kinds of activities that are vital to Palo Alto residents; in this case, keeping them alive.
Fairmeadow
on Sep 28, 2018 at 1:05 pm
on Sep 28, 2018 at 1:05 pm
As a participant, I have a suggestion. When we were asked to provide the three most important parts of the plan (open space, art space, education, for example), we only had three stars held by the moderator. The moderator was heavily influenced by the vocal expression of a participant who was heavily invested in school needs. We did not have a group discussion. An easier and more fair way to approach this exercise is to give each participant three stars. We then individually choose the three top areas we supported. Once that was done, we would count how many stars each item received. The top three, with the most stars, would more fairly represent the wishes of the group. This is a simple, tried and true process, and I am surprised that such a professional set of advisors would not have done that.
In addition, I think the second exercise, deciding on how high the buildings should go and where to put parking was a complete waste of time.
Registered user
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Sep 28, 2018 at 1:43 pm
Registered user
on Sep 28, 2018 at 1:43 pm
The out-of-town lobbyists (plural) at my table were not lobbying for health and wellness. They want programs they can use after work before they drive home to their own cities.
Maybe the city should track where the people live.
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 28, 2018 at 4:04 pm
on Sep 28, 2018 at 4:04 pm
It should be reopened as a third high school.
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Sep 28, 2018 at 8:18 pm
on Sep 28, 2018 at 8:18 pm
This very important, very central gem of a location should be re-opened as a public high school and if space permits, an affiliated elementary or pre-school or other PAUSD use.
I disagree with a motley array of random groups and interests.
This is a prime Palo Alto place.
Registered user
Midtown
on Sep 28, 2018 at 8:44 pm
Registered user
on Sep 28, 2018 at 8:44 pm
@ Anonymous
"the 35-acre campus ... is jointly owned by the Palo Alto Unified School district (which owns 27 acres, and the city (which owns the remaining 8 acres)."
Palo Alto is more than just students and those between 21 and 60 should also have access to community center programs. Currently they're an ubderserved demographic.
Old Palo Alto
on Sep 29, 2018 at 6:12 pm
on Sep 29, 2018 at 6:12 pm
I vote for a senior community like the Dutch have created. Palo Alto could lead the nation in properly taking care of the ever growing Alzheimer/dementia population.
Web Link
South of Midtown
on Oct 1, 2018 at 3:23 pm
on Oct 1, 2018 at 3:23 pm
This sounds like another expensive project that Palo Alto cannot afford. Has anyone watched a finance meeting lately????
Registered user
another community
on Oct 5, 2018 at 11:48 am
Registered user
on Oct 5, 2018 at 11:48 am
27 to a new high school and 8 to seniors who would like to tutor for free access to woodworking, pilates and pools.
Palo Verde
on Oct 5, 2018 at 2:19 pm
on Oct 5, 2018 at 2:19 pm
^ Pools?
The waters? What waters? We're in the desert.
I was misinformed.