The new Hebbron Family Center in Salinas is nearing completion.

For the past five years, a key venue in Salinas to meet, learn and organize has been closed. The Hebbron Family Center first shut its doors in 2020 due to the pandemic. Once social restrictions were lifted, it remained closed because it was in a severe state of decay with leaky roofs, foundation problems and mold, and it was deemed unsafe for reopening.

After a long wait, this is about to change. The new Hebbron Center is near completion, with an estimated reopening timeline of January or February.

The new facility was designed with residents’ needs in mind. The space has two assembly areas, multipurpose classrooms, a teen lounge, a kitchen, outdoor sport courts and a courtyard area.

“It has a more functioning space so that all of the spaces work together, where the previous building had previously been a church and was converted to a rec center,” says Kristan Lundquist, Salinas’ library and community services director.

(The building has served Salinas residents since the 1960s and was turned into a community center in the ’70s.)

In 2021, the city received $8.1 million in state funding to support the construction of a new community center on the old location. The project, which broke ground in 2024, has a total price tag of over $14 million.

On Dec. 9, city staff requested that City Council increase the project’s contingency fund to redo the parking lot. “It’s not a request for new funds,” Lundquist explains.

As construction wraps up, city staff are now looking at various vendors and programming offerings to bring back a range of classes and workshops for the community.