Cecily Hastings and Lisa Schmidt, cofounders of the Friends of East Sacramento, want to make weddings the primary source of income for the Clunie Center. / Photo by Adam Stark

From renovating the Clunie Center, to rebuilding the playground, beautifying the rose garden and expanding the Greek Orthodox Church, McKinley will be a neighborhood “designed by the community and presented by the community,” in the words of Councilman Steve Cohn at a recent McKinley East Sacramento Neighborhood Association meeting.

Councilman Cohn made the above statement in regards to the efforts to rebuild McKinley Playground, in which he stated that more than $600,000 has been approved for reconstruction, and assured the community that all funds were gathered either from insurance claims or excess city money.

Cohn said the new playground will look like the old one, however, several changes will be made. There is intent to use a synthetic wood material as opposed to the real thing, and foam floors will likely replace the woodchips currently in use.

Across the park, the rose garden and Clunie Center will also see vast improvements.

Cecily Hastings and Lisa Schmidt, cofounders of the Friends of East Sacramento, are spearheading efforts to gather volunteers for maintenance of the gardens, namely general upkeep or the removal of dead flowers. So far, funds have been raised for the first year of upkeep, but $30,000 is still needed to complete the project.

Hastings and Schmidt want to make weddings the primary source of income for the Center, so they are working on a marketing package for local restaurants before advertising to the community. Their plan is to have East Sac restaurants cater weddings.

McKinley Park itself will not be the only part of the McKinley neighborhood to be renovated. The Greek Orthodox Church and Sutter Memorial have remodel plans in the works.

Architect Dan Eriksson and building chairman George Koufasimis explained plans for the renovation and expansion of the Greek Orthodox Church, located at the corner of Alhambra and F Street. The expansions will include a large hall, an education center, and a new courtyard.

The project will include demolishing most of the structures on the block (but not the existing church) and merging the entire block except for the physical therapists’ office on the corner of Alhambra Boulevard and G Street. According to the church’s master plan, the current church building would ultimately be demolished and replaced with a new one. But that’s a long ways off, maybe a decade or so.  The new hall will house a variety of events, as well as adapting and building on existing architecture.

Representatives of StoneBridge Properties LLC were also at the meeting to announce upcoming renovations to Sutter Memorial Hospital, which will help the building blend in with the surrounding neighborhood.

jcooper@valcomnews.com

When the City of Sacramento announced this fall that the Clunie Hall Community Center, located at 601 Alhambra Boulevard at McKinley Park, was in jeopardy of closing this July due to city budget issues, a community-wide campaign was launched to keep it fully operating. Residents and business owners of East Sacramento, members of McKinley Library, and McKinley Park enthusiasts didn’t waste any time to save their 75 year-old iconic building.

SAVED! Local businesses and residents stepped up to save the Clunie Community Center, which houses the McKinley Library. The iconic East Sacramento structure celebrated its 75th birthday last October. / Image courtesy, Friends of McKinley Library. Painting by East Sacramento artist David Lobenberg

“We have $29,000 for this fiscal year to pay for everyday maintenance such as the heating, air conditioning, janitorial and part time staff for the Clunie Center. We could not guarantee that we could continue to allocate that much for the building,” explained Lori Harder, City Administrative Manager of Parks and Recreation. “The potential of closing the community center and eventually the adjoining McKinley Library, those two things happening were very alarming for the community around McKinley Park. So members of the community stepped up to raise funds and manage the building.”

Friends of East Sac rally

The initial rally to help raise funds came from members of the non-profit group, Friends of East Sac. According to the organization’s Website, the funds represent the committee’s commitment to support those in need and the community.

“Friends of East Sacramento – with the support of every of East Sacramento and Midtown neighborhood association, Councilman Steve Cohn, the Friends of McKinley Library, the city, and donations by hundreds of neighbors – has stepped forward with a 3 year plan to provide non-profit management for the Clunie,” the Website stated. “This will help ensure that the McKinley Library could continue to stay open. The Friends of East Sacramento will model the operation after the very successful Sierra 2 Center in Curtis Park. The nonprofit model of the operation of public facilities is growing nation-wide. But keeping it open and managed by a nonprofit takes start-up money.”

Successful drive

The rebel cry was a success. Within four months, Friends of East Sac, led by East Sacramento resident Cecily Hastings, collected over $60,000 from local businesses, residents, and park supporters to help pay off the City’s $45,000 operating budget.

“We got the call right before the Christmas break and I can tell you, in the past four years we don’t get that kind of good news too often anymore with all the closures of parks and recs. So yea, it was a great Christmas present,” said Harder. “Without the group’s efforts, the Center was most likely to close in July, along with the library inside.”

“We’ve established a $60,000 building fund because this is an old building and we’ve already figured out it’s a money pit,” said Hastings at a City press conference held on Jan. 17 with Mayor Kevin Johnson, Councilmember Steve Cohn and Nancy Cornelius from McKinley-East Sacramento Neighborhood Association (MENA). “We want to restore it to its glory of probably what it was 75 years ago.”

Blueprint to follow

THE CLUNIE HALL COMMUNITY CENTER is an icon built in memory of a Sacramento businesswoman who served the community. In 1934, Florence Turton Clunie’s estate bequeathed $150,000 to build the center – over $2.5 million in today’s dollars. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Stephen Crowley

At the press conference, Mayor Johnson said the work in East Sacramento is “a blueprint that challenges other areas of the city.”

Harder expanded on the Mayor’s sentiments by adding that this action by residents and businesses in East Sacramento is a community model that the City hopes will continue to emerge to help keep parks and community centers open as the budget deficit continues to chip away at those assets.

“We do have several other community centers that are (scheduled) to close, so we put out calls to non-profits and big local corporations if they want to talk to us about taking over responsibility of other community centers, to keep them open for community meetings, programming for kids, teens and adults,” Harder said. “A great example of this model is the Sierra 2 Center, run by the Sierra Curtis Neighborhood Association. It makes the Curtis Park neighborhood one of the most unique communities in Sacramento.”

Negotiating a transition

Currently organizers of Friends of East Sac are in negotiations with the City to take over the Center and run the facility at a lower cost than the city has. Organizers believe that, with proper management, the Clunie Hall Community Center could bring in $100,000 a year.

“We are working with their advisory committee to finalize the lease and transition base. They have people with facility management, grant writing, and marketing skills,” Harder said. “We hope the transition will be sometime by this spring or by July. We have great faith this organization will do a superb job in maintaining this center.”

“I bring my family out here to enjoy the park all the time, and this Center has served the community and has enhanced the lives of others in so many ways,” said supporter Robert Schmitt. “We know these are difficult times for many people, but this is a place that anyone can come and benefit from such as the McKinley Library, and the events held inside. I’m glad we have a community that cares so much.”

Clunie by the Numbers

The Clunie Hall Community Center was named for a life-long Sacramento resident, Florence Turton Clunie, wife of pioneer and state congressman Thomas J. Clunie. She was a notable Sacramento businesswoman in her own right. Upon her death in 1934, her estate donated $150,000 for the building of a community center and pool in McKinley Park. The City of Sacramento pitched in an additional $20,000 to establish the McKinley Library at the north end of the new building. Both opened to the public in late 1936.

The Center boasts a beautiful lobby with an art deco look, reminiscent of the 1930s when it was built.

Annual attendance:

Classes organized by Parks and Recreation with private instructors: 5590

Estimated number of people through rental activity (community and nonprofit meetings and events, weddings/family events, library programming, etc.): 33,753

Examples of classes:

Feldenkrais

Piano for Beginners

Spanish 4 Toddlers

The 1st annual Polar Bear Plunge will be held Saturday, Jan. 7 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Clunie Pool in East Sacramento’s McKinley Park.

CLUNIE CENTER. Painting by East Sacramento artist David Lobenberg. / Image courtesy, Friends of McKinley Library

All proceeds will go to help fund City pools for fiscal year 2013 and beyond.

On Sunday, Oct. 23, Friends of McKinley Library will throw a party to celebrate the 75th anniversary of McKinley Library and Clunie Community Center.

CLUNIE CENTER. Painting by East Sacramento artist David Lobenberg. The McKinley Library and Clunie Community Center will celebrate 75 years on Sunday, Oct. 23. / Image courtesy, Friends of McKinley Library

From 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., there will be presentations on the history of East Sacramento and Midtown, McKinley Park, Clunie Center and the library by historians and authors Bill Mahon and Amanda Graham.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for the history buff, or just the curious, to learn more about the neighborhood,” said McKinley Library’s Shari Nichelini.

The library will be open that afternoon for special programs for children. From 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., old-fashioned children’s activities and board games from the 1930s such as Scrabble will be set up for children and teens to play. At 2 p.m., Penny the Clown will perform in the library.

Across the hall in the Clunie Center auditorium, there will be dancing to live big-band music by the SwingMasters from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

As part of the celebration, McKinley East Sacramento Neighborhood Association is planning a juried art exhibit and sale of art from regional plein-air artists. The group is hosting the first Sacramento Plein-Air Paint-Out from 8 a.m. to noon that morning. Paintings by more than 20 artists will be on display in the Clunie entrance hall and auditorium. All the art will be available for purchase, with a portion of the proceeds going to projects in the neighborhood supported by MENA.

Special guests from Sacramento Art Deco Society will attend in period costumes, and vintage cars from the 1930s will be parked in front of the library.

And no party would be complete without cupcakes and old-fashioned root beer floats.

The event is co-sponsored by City Councilmember Steve Cohn, the East Sacramento Chamber of Commerce and Inside Publications.

All events and refreshments are free. For more information on the celebration or to volunteer to help the day of the event, call 452-8011.

Clunie Community Center and McKinley Library are at 601 Alhambra Blvd. in Sacramento.

Plein-Air Paint Out

Artists participating in the first Sacramento Plein-Air Paint-Out on Sunday, Oct. 23, are looking for suggestions on what to paint.

“Plein-air art is painting done outdoors using natural light,” explained Claudia Bordin, chair of the event and a board member of McKinley East Sacramento Neighborhood Association, the event’s sponsor.

Bordin and her co-chairs, artists Debbie Gualco and Beth Winfield, have invited 16 of the best plein-air artists in the region to come to East Sacramento that morning and create paintings that will be hung that afternoon at Clunie Community Center as part of the 75th anniversary celebration of the library and community center.

“On that Sunday morning, you may run across artists all over the neighborhood painting,” Bordin said. “In the afternoon during the celebration at Clunie, we expect a few of them to be painting near the center. We hope the public will take the opportunity to engage with the artists and learn more about plein-air art.”

The group is looking for people who may be interested in having their home, garden, business and/or classic car featured in an original work of art. “There is no guarantee that your home or business will be chosen as a subject by an artist, and no obligation on your part to purchase the art, though we do hope you will come to the show that afternoon to see the final piece of art,” Gualco says.

“Several other communities in California sponsor significant plein-air festivals.    This event in East Sac presents a great opportunity to expose plein-air painting to the general public,” adds Gualco.

To make a request for an artist to “Come Paint Me,” contact Marti Walker at (916) 224-5909 or martiwalke@yahoo.com.

For more information about the event, call Bordin at (916) 736-3450.