ARD offers new lease for community center

Following months of negotiations, the Auburn Recreation District and officials with the Meadow Vista Community Center have agreed on a new lease for the property.Auburn Recreation District board directors approved 4-0 Thursday night the new agreement, which leases the community center land to the Meadow Vista Community Center board for $1 a year for 50 years.Director Gordon Ainsleigh arrived at the meeting following the board's vote.The lease gives community center officials more control over the building than the old lease."Basically, we are no longer working with ARD to control the day-to-day operations of the building," said Fred Eichenhofer, community center director. "We can schedule events and are working as a separate entity."ARD Director Curt Smith said he was pleased to have an agreement that both ARD and community center officials are happy with."This lease was looked at word by word," Smith said. "This relieves ARD from some liability concerns and also gives the Meadow Vista Community Center folks the autonomy they should have for this center."Erv Morgenthal, community center director, said he was also pleased with the lease."This is something we have been after for quite some time," Morgenthal said. "We are happy with it."Once completed, the 1.3 million 7,300-square-foot Meadow Vista Community Center will feature a kitchen, three meeting spaces, youth room, a permanent stage and dance floor.The process to build the center has taken years and funding has been a major issue.Construction on what was planned to be a 4,000-square-foot, $800,000 center began in June 2005 with approximately $350,000 in funding in place.But citing rising construction costs and space demands from the public, community center organizers expect the center will cost about $1.3 million after completion.Officials said Thursday that roughly $185,000 is still needed to complete remaining work on the building.The building, which will have an occupancy rate of 250, will be rented on a sliding fee to residents, nonprofit organizations and businesses. All work on the building has been funded through donations and in-kind services.Eichenhofer said the building is still months away from completion, but community center officials recently received permission from the County of Placer to open an independent, 1,200 square-foot section of the building."It is self contained and has heating, air and bathrooms," Eichenhofer said. "There are a few more things we are working on including water, walkways and parking, but it is getting done."In other business Thursday night, Laura Pinnick, past president of the Ashley Memorial Dog Park Foundation, the organization which worked with ARD to build the now-opened dog park at Ashford Park in Auburn, was presented with the volunteer of the month award for May. Larry Gray, facilities and grounds supervisor, was presented with May's employee of the month award. The Journal's Jenna Nielsen can be reached at jennan@goldcountrymedia.com or comment on this story at auburnjournal.com.