The Nederland Community Center Site Plan Committee has chosen a final draft concept plan for developing the Center site over the next 25-30 years. This plan will be recommended to the Board of Trustees at their February 18 meeting. From there, the plan will follow the Nederland Planning Process before returning to the BOT for final action.
The recommended plan would be phased in over many years. This allows the BOT and the NCC Foundation to budget for each phase and seek outside funding.
Sustainability is a key concept in this site plan. We adopted a broad definition of “sustainability.” It applies to the facility as a whole, not just to a particular location or building. We want the hillside drainage, the access and parking patterns, the buildings, and the general orientation of the facility to all work together so that the community is attracted to the Center and finds it easy to access and use in a variety of ways over a long time.
We have recommended the replacement of the West Wing with a new building, in 10 to 15 years, for many reasons: 1) The west wing acts as a barrier to the natural drainage of the hillside. It causes significant diversion of storm water, creating large, damaging flows that are difficult to mitigate. These flows also create serious issues for properties farther down the hill. Removing the west wing allows us to open up the site, to terrace the slope to slow and retain flows for absorption, and to minimize downstream impacts on the community. 2) The west wing’s one story configuration creates a large roof area that creates even more runoff issues. 3) The west wing leaves the whole facility facing east, so that the main entrance is at the back. Replacing that wing allows us to build a newer building, with a smaller footprint and roof, facing the highway. 4) The building is nearing the end of its service life, with failing systems and substantial hazardous materials. Costs to renovate to meet current code requirements may exceed the costs to remove the structure and replace it with a new one.
Main features of the proposed development plan, in general order of their development phases:
Phase 1: Hydrology and drainage engineering analysis of the surrounding hillside to plan for more natural control and prevent flooding.
Phase 2: Engineer and landscape the east and south side of the CC site, including the Forest Road hillside and the lower parking lot and berm, to divert and control storm-water runoff. Re-surface the lower parking lot with permeable materials. Expand the highway entrance to make a drop-off loop for the west side of the site. Move the Magnolia schoolhouse; build a new exit ramp from the lower parking lot up to Forest Road. Construct terraced community gardens on the east side of the community center.
Phase 3: Re-align the south driveway for easier access. Renovate the Bus Barn and install modular buildings for West Wing tenants. Remove the West Wing. Add a new gallery “front” along the west side of the main building, with entrances at Forest Road and the current south door.
Phase 4: Landscape and engineer for drainage in a terraced garden area west of the main building, with the town trail passing through. Construction of new 2-story multipurpose building facing the highway entry area, with covered walkway connecting to the gallery entrance on the west side of the main building.
Click on the draft concept design below to see it bigger.
