By Jondi Gumz
A long-awaited renovation of the Jade Street Community Center took a big step forward on Jan. 30 with the Capitola City Council awarding a $4.726 million contract to SSB Contracting of Salinas.
The vote was 5-0.
With a 9.5% contingency and a $75,000 PG&E upgrade, that brings the total cost to $5.247 million.
The building owned by the Soquel Union Elementary School District and designated an emergency evacuation center, has not been renovated since it was built in the 1980s.
Capitola has a long-term use agreement specifying that the city to make improvements by November of 2026.
These include a new roof, new siding, windows, and doors, ADA upgrades such as an accessible single-user restroom, new HVAC system with zones for greater efficiency, kitchen improvements, and inside a new permanent wall with storage.
Design is by Boone Low Ratliff Architects.
SSB was the lowest responsive bid of six bidders.
Items such as kitchen, electrical upgrades, exterior site improvements, EV charging, landscaping and generator upgrades were bid as add-ons and the city will forego the $960,000 landscaping and $160,000 generator improvements for now, looking for future grant opportunities.
City Public Works Director Jessica Kahn said, “We wanted to make sure that when we bid this project, we had a project we could afford to construct.”
Construction is expected to start toward the end of February or beginning of March and last about a year.
The city has put aside $1.8 million for the project since 2022, was awarded a $1 million grant a year ago from the California, Natural Resources Agency facilitated by Assemblymember Dawn Addis, got a $3.2 million Community Development Block Grant, and then added $160,240 left over from a CDBG project for a $6,160,240 budget.
The city spent about $600,000 on the design and earmarked $300,000 for a construction manager day to day with about $5,024,000 remaining for construction.
Leslie Nielsen, who is on the Financial Advisory Committee, commended the staff for keeping the project on budget but made a pitch to add the generator if possible.
“It’s quite an investment we’re making,” said Councilman Gerry Jensen, noting the Jade Street Park playground is seeing an upgrade to make it accessible, with County Park Friends raising $1 million to go with city funds. “What is the downside to that is that other things go undone.”
One example: Paving to keep streets from crumbling, supposed to be allocated $2.2 million a year but the number is under $1 million.
Council member Melinda Orbach said, “My kids, you know, they they’re there for Camp Capitola. We go to Jade Street Park often, so I’m really excited for the upgrades. And I’m also excited that the community will have the space for events and hopefully we’ll see it be utilized in that way in the future.”
TOP GRAPHIC: Jade St. Community Center Rendering | Jan 30 Agenda