Agenda - 04-09-2015 - 3 - Laserfiche WebLink

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12 American school) on NC 86 north of Hillsborough. Once used as the "Northern Human Services Center," the Cedar Grove facility no longer housed County functions by 2012 and a long -term plan for the 55 -year old structure was needed. The completion of a series of community meetings led to a plan to keep and renovate /reconstruct the central portion of the structure, while retaining and "mothballing" the two wings of the building. Subsequent design work with a group of community residents and the project designer and staff resulted in a plan for the Cedar Grove Community Center. This Center, which is now under construction, includes 10,000 square feet with a gymnasium /auditorium, large meeting room, internet cafe, multimedia room and other planned amenities. The Center is planned to be open in March 2016. As noted in the Issues for Further Study section of the new Parks and Recreation Master Plan 2030, the pending completion of the Cedar Grove Community Center, along with community concerns and desires for more hours of operation at Efland Cheeks Community Center, offers a timely opportunity for consideration of a desired purpose and goal for County community centers, as well as an appropriate level of service going forward. While the Rogers Road Community Center has a unique set of circumstances that led to its creation, and to the license use arrangement with a community non - profit (with a history of offering services of the type found at a community center), the Efland- Cheeks Community Center is distinctly different in manner of creation and historical usage patterns. Decisions on upgrades to the Efland- Cheeks Center will need to be made in future Capital Investment Plans (CIP), as needed improvements at this center are evaluated and /or funded. Likewise, the new Cedar Grove Community Center is unique and different in its own right and is in need of a long -term plan. In some ways, this new Center will "raise the bar" in terms of center facilities and amenities. The Cedar Grove Center is over twice the size of the other two centers, and contains features (such as a gymnasium) that do not exist at the other centers. In some respects, the Cedar Grove Center is more like Central Recreation Center in Hillsborough than its sister community centers. All of the above factors — along with the important question of community involvement and participation in operation and programming - make discussion and consideration of a comprehensive approach for community centers a timely and desirable outcome. This guidance for the future will enable the different communities served by the centers to have a basic level of expectation of what the centers may offer, with additional opportunities at each location based on community need and available facilities. As noted above, developing this type of plan was identified as an important "Issue for Further Study" in the Parks and Recreation Master Plan 2030 (adopted November 2014). To begin this comprehensive assessment, it may be useful to start with a discussion of two primary topics- 1 . 2. What goals and objectives should a community center have in terms of its mission and purpose? Stated differently, what should a community center be? What are the basic tenets or purposes for community centers? What types of services should be expected? What is a reasonable and appropriate level(s) of service for community centers in Orange County?