South County cities seek private donors for two community centers.

A community center can bring people of different ages together and give them a sense of belonging. It’s also a venue for people to learn new skills, gather and hold forums. They can turn into shelters during a disaster, a power outage or inclement weather.

The cities of Gonzales and Soledad are seeking private donations to invest in their community centers. Both cities are at different stages: Gonzales will start the first construction phase of its community center complex in May. (The need for a community center has been on the radar for over a decade.) The first phase includes a new home for the Monterey County Free Libraries branch (now in a shopping mall), a teen innovation center, meeting rooms, an amphitheater and more. “It’ll be great for the high school students to have a place to call their own,” says Patrick Dobbins, Gonzales’ public works director.

The total cost of the project is $35 million. As of November, the effort has raised $24.7 million including $5 million in state grants and a USDA loan of $9.7 million. (The loan will be paid back with the local Measure X funds that Gonzales voters approved in 2020, increasing the city’s sales tax from 0.5 to 1 percent.) Otto Construction/WRNS Studio are building the project, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

Meanwhile, Soledad has an aging community center that is used regularly and needs upgrades to keep up with demand. The list of needs includes a new kitchen, indoor and outdoor lighting, electrical upgrades and ADA compliance. Soledad currently has $500,000 from federal Covid relief funds set aside, plus $50,000 from a T-Mobile Hometown Grant. But they anticipate needing $2.4 million.

“We’re very fortunate to have this asset in our community,” City Manager Megan Hunter says. She notes a new community center of this size, 23,000 square feet, would easily cost $30 million today. The first round of upgrades will go out to bid in the next couple of months.