Community meeting to discuss new Lower Valley community center

Residents of a Lower Valley neighborhood will have some influence on the building of a new community center.

District 3 City Representative Cassandra Hernandez Brown will host a public meeting Wednesday to discuss the plans of what is currently being called the Alameda Community Center. It will be built at 7380 Alameda Avenue, located about a mile away from Riverside High School.

The empty lot will be the future home of a facility that will house a library, computer center, gym and will be available to rent for events.

Hernandez Brown told ABC-7 this area has gone decades without some sort of community or recreation center.

“This is very invaluable to a community that feels they have been overlooked for some time,” Hernandez Brown said.

Hernandez Brown said there is a high demographic of low income elders and families in the area who would benefit from the center.

The center will paid for by the vote-approved 2012 Quality of Life Bond with an estimated budget of $11 million, which includes land acquisitions, project management, design, construction and public art.

“The community will have an opportunity to give input on what they would like to see in terms of the floor plan and the amenities within it.” Hernandez Brown said.

Local artists will also be at the meeting to talk about how they want to incorporate some of their art in and around the community center.

The name of the community center will also be up for discussion, according to Hernandez Brown.

“Right now we’re calling it the Alameda Community Center, but we want to have further discussion on who we want to honor,” she said.

The meeting is Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Riverside High School cafeteria, located at 310 Midway Drive.