A community center project 15 years in the making and 80 days from being lost has been saved by a $400,000 grant from the McConnell Foundation.

The dream was first born with a $1.1 million grant from the Ford Family Foundation about 15 years ago, with the condition that matching grants be acquired from other sources.

Joyce Oliver, a member of the Weed Community Center Board, said in a phone interview that efforts to get this project off the ground over the last decade and a half have met with a few obstacles.
In addition to smaller grants from other donors, a bond measure was put to the voters at one point that would have levied a one time $35 per parcel tax on property owners. It received well over 50 percent approval by voters, but fell short of the two-thirds vote required for passage.

Members then launched a grant writing campaign, but funds dried up after September 11, 2001, and the project seemed stalled, until the McConnell Foundation came through with $400,000 only 80 days before the Ford Foundation offer expired.

The center will be built on donated land next to the College of the Siskiyous Weed campus, and involving a portion of Bel Air Park.
Oliver said the facility will be built with room for expansion - it is ultimately intended to be a $3 million property, but they have $1.56 million with which to begin and expected immediate improvements will cost slightly less than that.

Gary Blevins, president of the WCC board, said that board members will get input from the intended users, both those intended to be anchor tenants and those expected to use the facility on a regular basis, to learn what design features are desired when the plans are worked up with the engineer-architect, David Winter, when they meet with him in Roseburg July 20.

Blevins cited features such as audio-visual built-ins, lighting, and storage areas as some of the amenities they expect to be customized to tenant requirements.
A cover for Bel Air Park's swimming pool and a facelift for the adjacent buildings will be top priority, said Blevins. Ultimately, the WCC board intends to turn over management of the facility to the Weed Recreation & Park District. The WCC board itself will remain in existence as "oversight," but their hope is that the Recreation & Park Board will manage the facility.

Mike Rodriguez (representing the Weed Recreation & Park District), also reached by phone, said that several months of discussion will still be needed to hammer out those details.
"There are financial considerations, as well as usage impact and staffing costs to consider," he said. "This will take a good sized piece of Bel Air Park. We will be talking about this at the June and July meetings of the park board and probably for months after that."

The facility will seat 500 people, and will have catering and banquet facilities including a commercial kitchen and the "footprint for a mirror kitchen," said Blevins, as funding becomes available.
He said in a phone interview that he is preparing a detailed press release "that won't leave questions in people's minds," explaining what will be built and citing all the helpers and partners in this large project.

He said at the Recreation & Park board meeting last month that groundbreaking will probably not happen until the spring of 2008.

Weed Community Center Moving Forward
Published: Weed Press, Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Construction of the Weed Community Center at Bel Air Park will begin as early as possible in 2008, according to WCC board president Gary Blevins.  Blevins said the $400,000 grant awarded last month by the McConnell Foundation has made it possible for the WCC to meet its target of $1.5 million and meet the matching fund-raising terms of the $1 million grant awarded in November 2005 by The Ford Family Foundation.
The WCC mission is to strengthen and unify Weed and nearby communities by providing year-round civic, social, cultural, educational and recreational activities for people of all ages.

Among the project's goals are a facility for gatherings of up to 500 people and enclosing the Bel Air Park pool for year-round use.
Next steps for the WCC project, according to Blevins, include "obtaining input from committed partnering organizations on final design features that would best suit their needs, and extending personal thanks to all those who have helped keep our dream alive. Fundraising will continue in order to cover the start-up expenses when the WCC is open for business. This will include family-oriented fund raising events and a re-start of the WCC Founding Investor Program."

Blevins credited "the hard work of many local volunteers, including current and past board members, consultants who provided critical support and the generosity of foundations, local businesses and members of the local community whose belief in the project is reflected in their contributions to our capital campaign."
He said other grants awarded to the project include $50,000 from the Ben B. Cheney Foundation, $20,000 from the US Bancorp Foundation, and $5,000 from the PacifiCorp Foundation.

He praised the many local businesses that made contributions, including Margaret Dean/Siskiyou Development Company, $2,500; Scott Valley Bank, $1,000; Country Drug, $1,000; Premier West Bank, $1,000; Qwest Communications, $500; and Personnel Preference, $500.

Blevins said contributions ranging from $20 to as much as $5,000 from individuals and families in the local community helped put the capital campaign over the top.
Local community members who contributed $500 or more included the following:

Cyndi Blevins, $5,000;
Frank and Gene Rizzo family, $2,500;
Jim Mullen, $1,000;
John and Joyce Oliver, $1,000;
Gene and Pat Pitsenbarger, $1,000;
Susan Powell and family, $1,000;
Mike Michelon and family, $1,000;
Scott Valley Bank, $1,000;
Country Drug, $1,000;
George and Lisa Whitmer, $500;
Diane Strachen and Bob Hammond, $500;
Sunny and Alonzo Green, $500;
Mike and Sandra Rice, $500;
Nolan and Peggy Roy, $500;
Robin and Therese Styers, $500.

"The Ford Family Foundation and their president, Norm Smith, deserve the majority of the credit for ensuring that the vision of a 'centerpiece' community center for Weed will become a reality," Blevins said. "Their unwavering support has served as a lighthouse for us in the often rough seas of fund-raising we've had to navigate over the past several years."
The Ford Family Foundation not only awarded the largest grant toward the WCC capital project, but also provided roughly $80,000 to cover planning costs and consultant fees, Blevins said.  "Norm Smith personally recommended our project to the McConnell Foundation," he said.  Blevins clarified that "although the $1 million grant from The Ford Family Foundation had a matching fund-raising deadline of June 30, 2007, they have never indicated they would withdraw their support."

Blevins said the WCC now has approximately $1,560,000 to work with, while "the current estimated cost of construction for the center, based on comparative cost data provided by our engineer/architect for the project, Dave Leonard, president of Pinnacle Engineering of Roseburg Oregon, is closer to $1,300,000. However, as anyone knows who has played a key role in a major construction project, it is prudent to hold a sizable amount of funding in reserve for contingency."  Blevins said some of the fund-raising the Weed Community Center board will undertake in the near future will be for the purpose of increasing the contingency reserve.

Questions may be sent to gblevins@snowcrest.net or may be forwarded to Weed Community Center, P.O. Box 627, Weed, CA 96094.  Blevins said all questions will receive a response, but there could be delays of up to a couple of weeks, unless volunteer assistance can be obtained