See enlarged photo
By Mark Scheuer, Friends of Duboce Park
A separate performance space and a plaza/pedestrian corridor creating the effect of two buildings are part of a Building Program designed for the renovation of the Harvey Milk Recreation Center for the Arts (HMRCA) that was unveiled at a Community Workshop at the Center on May 19. The plans and drawings were presented by the Design Team, led by architect Jean Lemanski of Lemanski & Rockwell, who developed them after working with the HMRCA Task Force for the past six months.
The process began in January with the Feasibility phase to evaluate building conditions, develop a conceptual design, evaluate programming, and recommend a budget. The Task Force was created in February and included members of the commu- nity and user groups as well as Recreation & Park and DPW staff. New programming to better serve the neighborhood is also being developed. Two community meetings were held on March 10 and May 19 and a third is tentatively planned for August or September to inform the community about the recommendations.
The round performance space will be used by groups that currently rehearse at the Center, but have no space to perform. It will seat about 150 people. The plaza removes the barrier between Duboce Park on the east and Scott St. on the west by splitting the building in the middle and replacing the current Scott St. main lobby with the plaza. The plans give appropriate space to existing programs, replaces aging and out-of- date building systems (electrical, mechanical, and plumbing), and corrects accessibility problems. An elevator will be included to make movement between the lower and upper levels much easier.
Correcting these problems will require gutting the entire building. A complete demolition and rebuild is not an option because it would be too expensive. The scheme presented is conceptual at this point and will be refined as the project progresses. Further research will be done on the elevation of the round performance space and other details.
Additional analysis will include environmental effects including "green building" and the potential wind effects the pedestrian plaza may create.
Three views are shown here:
A. View from Scott St. looking toward Duboce Park and showing the corridor between the two buildings;
B. View from Duboce Park, looking west towards Scott St.; and,
C. An aerial overview. Complete plans and additional views are on display in the main lobby of the Center.
The conceptual plan and Task Force recommendations will be presented to the Planning Committee of Recreation & Park in September for review. They will forward them to the full Commission in the third week of September for final approval. Assuming they get approved, the Design Phase will then take six to nine months, followed by the Bid and Award Phase that will take three months. Actual construction will take about 1-1/2 to 2 years.
In a best case scenario, the new HMRCA will be reopened in early 2006.
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Last modified Jul 9 2003
