City reviews design of new community center

By Grace Lovins

Birmingham’s vision for a new community and senior center to be located at 400 E Lincoln continues to move forward as city commissioners reviewed multiple schematic design options for what the building could look like during the Monday, March 25, meeting.

While four designs were originally made, the two options reviewed by the commission were the two recommended by the ad hoc senior and community center committee, said Jim Stock, design director with architect Neumann Smith. Stock said that the firm tried to follow the programming as closely as possible for an efficient building, preserve as much of the site as possible for parking and respect the surrounding context of the residential neighborhood with each of their designs.

The first option put the building on the northwest corner of Edgewood and Lincoln with 18 ft. building height from the ground. The gym and pool were pushed into the ground 16 ft. in this design to ensure the building height made sense in the area, Stock said. The lower level featured a 7,200 sq ft. gym, pool and lock rooms, while the main level held a small lobby space, access to the walking track, administrative space, kitchen, child watch area and multi-purpose rooms.

On the third level of the first design, Stock showed a fitness area for Next senior services placed by the stairs and elevator. Neumann Smith also added a rooftop patio space for patrons and suggested it could be used for things like rentals or parties. This design option would provide roughly 35,062 sq. ft. of usable building space.

The second schematic design option, while similar to the first, had differences on the main and upper levels of the building. Multi-purpose rooms can be found on the main level of this design, but they don’t have windows, Stock said. A large wellness area was also able to be added to the upper level due to extra space from the design’s footprint.

The gym and pool were still designed to be 16 ft. into the ground on the lower level of the building. This design would allow for roughly 36,291 sq. ft. of usable building space.

In terms of parking, Neumann Smith and city staff were able to identify over 200 potential parking spaces in the area. According to Stock, the building’s east parking lot has 45 spaces and the larger west lot has 110 spaces. Adding spaces from St. James Park, surrounding businesses and street parking on Floyd, Lincoln and Edgewood, Stock said there are 103 parking spaces available around the building.

City manager Jana Ecker added that Grace Baptist Church and the Michigan United Credit Union near the building have indicated they would be amenable to letting patrons use their parking lots during non-business hours.

Part of Neumann Smith’s schematic design for parking includes moving into the neighboring St. James Park by 42 ft. That space would be used for parking, but the design would also include a walking path that connects the sidewalk lining the perimeter of the site and an area for YMCA camps next to the tennis courts.

Commissioners mostly agreed that the first option for the building design was the most efficient use of space, which they liked. Several commissioners, including mayor Therese Longe and Anthony Long who sit on the ad hoc senior and community center committee, reiterated comments and concerns that were brought up by the ad hoc committee including the sizing of the pool and how the plans to cut into St. James Park might impact the baseball field.

Since the item was a progress report on where Neumann Smith and city staff have gotten in the design process, the commission took no formal action.