10/22/1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The Mounds View Community Center and the 1999 City Budget The construction of the Mounds View Community Center is coming to an end this December and that means use of the facility by the public can begin in January. It has been a long time in coming complete with much debate, resident involvement, planning and replanning and all the construction. But finally, the old Bel Rae Ballroom will be the new Mounds View Community Center this January. Our next issue of Mounds View Matters will give a fuller account of the new community center and will invite the community to an open house on January 24. The building itself has been designed to provide a variety of activity space for community residents, ranging from high intensity use such as in the gymnasium, to lower intensity uses such as the lounge areas. In addition, the building was designed to accommodate two active tenants, the Children's Home Society and classroom space for Community Education. These two tenants, in addition to providing a revenue stream for the facility, also provide family oriented services in the community. The remaining banquet/meeting rooms, gym and gathering areas will require the City to commit to how best to oversee and define appropriate use of these spaces. The City also needs to consider adequate fiscal support for the operations of the building and the best management options for running the facility. This article sums up City Hall's efforts through mid-October in addressing the day to day management of the building. The Building Design Objectives A great deal of attention has been devoted to the design of the building and its potential uses. These uses include banquet and meeting space with moveable partition walls, a senior area or lounge for small to medium size low key gatherings, "public space" in widened corridor areas with sight line divisions allowing people to collect unobtrusively but also openly, the gymnasium for physical fitness activities, and office space for oversight and administration of building functions. Some storage space and public restrooms have also been incorporated into the facility. It has been relatively well understood that these spaces will accommodate a variety of users ranging from paying private events to open and community nonpaying groups. The balance of these two general types of users has not been overly planned at this early stage of the facility's development, but it is commonly recognized that certain times within the facility will be preferred for the types of uses. For instance, weekend evenings will likely host the majority of banquet type events, while nonpaying users will likely find space during low demand periods for particular meeting areas. The community seems to recognize this mix of users as not only important in meeting the needs of the community, but also in the creation of an eclectic City space that can create its own sense of place unique to the community of Mounds View. In other words, the building must be useful to Mounds View residents in order to maintain support. Construction Objectives 1