Barrett Community Center to undergo renovation
Volume X Issue 4
Published February 2019
Early into the new year, the Belmont City Council has already initiated a new project, looking to appease calls from the community for a complete refurbishment of the worn down Barrett Community Center.
Barrett was first built nearly seven decades ago but due to stiff monetary constraints, has never been in position for renovation. In fact, staff reports addressing the abysmal status of the community center date back several years, past motions for remodeling Barrett being held back by construction expenses.
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According to the staff report on the resolution, “As-needed low-cost repairs and maintenance tasks continue to be completed by Parks and Facility Maintenance staff. However, the facility, originally constructed in 1949, suffers from deferred maintenance due to fiscal constraints. In addition, accessibility and seismic upgrades are necessary.”
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Fortunately for the community, the Belmont City Council has, in their meeting on Jan. 22, finally moved forward with Barrett's resuscitation, establishing an Architecture and Engineering Services Agreement with the consultant firm Group 4 Architecture.
“As long as I can remember, Barrett has been on the city council’s list of priority to do something about and it looks like we’re finally launching a mission,” Councilman Charles Stone said.
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The process of Barrett’s restoration began with an ad hoc subcommittee that parsed through applications from consultant groups and their early proposals for the community center.
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“I’m not sure we that we could have made a bad decision from the shortlisted groups that we had. We had roughly 10 or so companies apply. I think the ones that we ended up shortlisting were all excellent companies. We are very excited about Group 4 Architecture based on what they showed us with and how they work with communities, and we think that it will be an excellent fit for Belmont,” said Councilman Warren Lieberman, a member of the ad hoc committee.
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The decision of Group 4 Architecture was greatly influenced by their reputation for being highly successful with regard to community involvement, a key tenant in the revitalization of Barrett given the project’s inception being predominantly at the whim of the local community.
Councilwoman Julia Mates, the other councilmember working on the ad hoc committee, said, “We felt confident that [Group 4] understood what we are looking for and that community outreach was going to be a big part of the planning of this recreation center, so I feel very confident about this first phase.”
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Thus far, the extent to which Group 4 Architecture and city council have set in stone is Phase I, which consists purely of assessment, community outreach, and development of a conceptual design and budget.
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“[The] first phase is all about listening to the community and understanding what the community’s needs and wants are … and what makes sense for this community given the demographics here and what makes sense for the city operationally,” said Brigitte Shearer, the Parks and Recreation Director.
Group 4 Architecture’s proposal highlights the extensive community input the firm intends to pursue before conceptualizing Barrett’s renewal.
“There is a lot to come, it sounds like there is going to be a significant amount of community outreach and input solicited which is great,” Stone said.
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During the city council meeting, there was a general consensus and faith in Group 4 Architecture and the consultant firm’s capabilities as far as rousing community involvement and substantiating the ideal designs for Barrett’s revamping.
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Shearer said, “A comment that we’ve heard about Group 4 on the Peninsula is that they did a really good job of putting into reality what the community was saying. It was not Group 4’s vision in any way and they gave the community what the community wanted, and that felt like a good fit for Belmont.”
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Local responses to the instigation of a plan for rejuvenating Barrett continue to emphasize the specific areas of improvement for the community center.
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“I’ve spent a lot of time at Barrett and have seen some crazy things there,” Denton Silfvast, a senior, said. “It’s crazy to think the whole place will be replaced. It’ll be good to get rid of the middle triangle structure though because it was kind of dumb.”
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Aside from comments concerning Group 4 Architecture and the excitement of the project, only a few other comments concerning the budgeting and timeline details of revivifying Barrett were made. As far as expenses, a $282,002 spending limit has been applied to Phase 1 with funding coming from the General Facilities Fund; the staff report going into Phase 1 gives a rough estimate of about seven months of community participation and early design concepts. Additionally, Barrett Community Center’s reconstruction has been passed along to the Parks and Recreation Commission with early work on the project continuing through February.