Sunnydale, a historically underserved San Francisco neighborhood, had an inadequate community center for most of its 80-plus-years. Located near McLaren Park on the city's southernmost edge, the 1940s-era public housing project is now in the middle of a complete transformation. As part of the HOPE SF project, housing is being replaced one-for-one and additional housing is being built to create a total of 1,770 homes. A new 30,000-square-feet community center, The Hub, designed by LMSA opened this past October.
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LMSA
The community had a much-beloved Boys and Girls Club, and the new Hub was a chance to give the Club a new home and combine it with spaces and programming for all ages. To learn about the neighborhood's issues and concerns and develop solutions together, LMSA refined its community engagement toolkit [here] and began a year-long process of engagement in 2020, adapting to pandemic restrictions and communicating in four of the community's native languages (Chinese, English, Spanish, and Tagalog). To connect with as many people as possible, LMSA held small group meetings and focus groups, as well as traditional open house meetings.
The newly opened Hub provides community spaces and programs for residents of Sunnydale and the broader Visitacion Valley neighborhood of 17,000-plus residents. It includes a multipurpose room, a recording studio, meeting rooms, and at the center, a communal living room and kitchen. Along with the updated Boys & Girls Club, the Hub is also home to the Wu Yee Children's Services early learning childcare center. Associate Ian Ashcraft-Williams, who managed the project for LMSA, recently sat down with long-time Sunnydale resident Shelia Hill to find out what the new center means to her community.
Thanks so much for meeting me at The Hub, Shelia. I know you have deep roots here. Can you talk about your experience as a resident?
Yes, I used to live in Geneva Towers and moved here two weeks before my eighth birthday. I lived at 1919 Sunnydale, 52 Blythedale, and 131 Brookdale. About 15 years ago, I moved down the street—one block down. It wasn’t all bad. Back then, when I was younger, I did the normal things that kids do. I’d go play in treehouses and in people’s backyards. But as I got older, I started noticing that things were bad: There was nowhere to go, the drugs, the fighting, the shootings and stuff like that. And it stayed like that for a long time.
How would you describe Sunnydale to someone who isn’t from here?
Don’t believe everything that you hear. It’s not like it used to be, it’s changed. I can tell you we always have been family oriented, hands-down. We’re open to everybody. It’s mixed people, it’s not just all African American people. And don’t believe the hype that it’s been gentrified. Come over and see for yourself.
It took a long time to get The Hub built. LMSA joined the effort in 2018 and I know the community was advocating for it way before that. Do you remember those early, pre-Covid community meetings?
People didn’t believe it was going to happen. I didn’t believe it. A lot of times people would say, “We’re coming here and we’re going to build this and we’re going to have this.” And they’d be gone. People were tired of hearing the same old stuff again and again. Truthfully, [the community meetings] seemed phony to me, just something to put on paper.
I'm curious if there was anything that could have been done to make it feel like it wasn't fake? Or because of the history, you were like, "You need to show us"?
Exactly. The feeling was "Why waste my time?"; When they tore down and rebuilt the [first new housing development] across the street, we thought, "Ok, that's going to be the only building." And even when they started building other things, we wondered, "Are they really going to finish it?" Once things actually started happening, we started going to the meetings more.
How did you get involved with the community center planning?
I'm on the resident advisory committee now, but before I was just a busybody, wanting to make sure that things were done right. I knew this project was where I'll be, this where my kids are going to be, where my grandkids are going to be. I'm in the community and do a lot of door-knocking [Hill is a community connector at Visitation Valley Senior Health & Wellness.]
What were some of the big concerns that the community had?
Safety was a big concern. I think because the building is open to everybody, it's safer. It has so many windows, which let you see everything. Also, I believe it's safer because people who live in Sunnyvale work here, and so they have their ears to the ground and know what's going on. I believe they're going to hire some people from down the street [in Visitacion Valley] which will make it even safer.
A lot of people were concerned that there was no parking. People still complain about it now. But we have plenty of bus lines that come here. And the more cars, the more pollution and traffic you have. I think it's better.
I spent a lot of time in community centers playing basketball when I was little, so my dream has always been to work on a community center. But the architect's role can be hard because we have limited control over the budget. We try our best to accommodate as many requested activities and functions as we can with the money we have. Do you feel like the community's priorities were met?
Yes, I believe everything was met, I really do - from the childcare to the seniors to the children. Everybody wanted to be in the same building so we wouldn't feel secluded. People have been wanting a step class for a long time, so to have that in the dance room with the mirrors is really nice. The open kitchen where people can come from anywhere in the community and sit down and eat is great. The childcare is beautiful. I have kids and grandkids, and I see that this is here and how it's changing things.
That's really nice to hear. We located the building at the corner of Sunnydale and Hahn because one of the goals we heard from the community was to create a welcoming gateway to the neighborhood. The other main idea was to create better access to McLaren Park. Do you think it was a good move?
I really appreciate the fact that it's on the corner. The Boys & Girls Club used to be up the street, which made it feel as if it was a Sunnydale club - that it was just for us. There was an imaginary line that people did not cross. Now it seems open, like "Come on in, everybody!"; I notice a lot of people are coming up here to utilize the building. They're coming to the swimming pool more, they're walking and biking here more.
We studied the use of mass timber as a way to reduce the building's impact on the environment and to create a warm and healthy space that connects people with nature. Do you like how it turned out?
I like it - it's different than any other building that I've seen in SF. It doesn't look like a prison or an army base or an office building. It looks nice - it looks like we're worth something over here. And it brings out Sunnydale's actual name: It's sunny and open.
We assumed that the community wouldn't want to remember the buildings that were here before. But we heard otherwise - that people did want to remember them. Can you speak about that respect for the past?
There's a lot of good people who lived here that have passed on. They worked to change things, but passed on before they could see it happen. You don't want to forget them. I like how you took the bear ["Bear and Head"; the Beniamino Bufano sculpture, seen below] that was installed in front of the former Boys & Girls Club] and put it here. That's letting you know, "Sunnydale's still here."
Did you know that the awning over the entrance has an aerial image of the neighborhood before the construction? It's kind of subtle, but it's easier to see it the farther away you are from the panels. When we were designing those perforated panels, we thought it was a good opportunity to honor the history of Sunnydale.
I didn't know, but I like it - that's a good idea. Now every time I look up there, I'm not going to be able to unsee it.
I think we’re going to be coming back in a year once the Hub has been used more, and asking people what they think. We always want to do things better and make sure we're including people in the process. It creates better buildings that last longer because people have a stake in them.
Once this all [the upcoming rec center] gets finished, you're going to have a good reputation. Everybody's going to be at you then.
It takes a village to design and build a successful community center, from neighbors and design partners to the construction team. We are looking forward to seeing how the community continues to inhabit and evolve the Sunnydale Hub space for the next generations, and how users continue to make the space their own. The LMSA team would also like to extend a big thank you to Shelia Hill, Mercy Housing and everyone involved for their time and insights.