False rumors fly about proposed community center

May 16, 2003

Remember when you were a little kid and you played "Operator?" You'd start the game with a secret whispered in your neighbor's ear, and then he whispered it in the ear of his neighbor, who then whispered it in his neighbor's ear, and so on and so on until the secret came back to you at the end of the line and you laughed at how dramatically it had metamorphosed from its original form.

That is sort of the way gossip travels in a small city like Oakley.

The current rumors have to do with a piece of property on O'Hara Avenue, a community center and the Delta Family YMCA.

Several years back, the county purchased a block of land next to O'Hara Park School. Nothing special about the property, just that it is next to the school and within walking distance of downtown. The family name of the property owner was Moura, and so the parcel is most often referred to as the Moura property.

Over the years there have been several groups who have worked to build some type of community center on the property. Several years back, some residents got together a fund-raiser for the project, but after a long time trying the group didn't meet its goals and the project stalled.

When Oakley became a city, talk of a community center on the property blossomed anew, along with the idea that the property might also house a new library. Oakley does have a fairly new library that is shares with Freedom High School, but the city and its residents still hope for a library outside of the high school.

There have also been thoughts of building a community pool on the property where the city could host swimming lessons and the like, just as the city plans to do at the pool which is opening to the public at Freedom High School this summer.

Over the past couple of years, city officials have talked about the need for funding to build on the property, which is an expensive proposition and one that the city cannot afford at this time. According to Oakley parks and recreation manager Nancy Kaiser, there are ways to get funds. Sometimes those ways are through grants and sometimes they are through forming partnerships. One such partnership alternative that has been discussed is working with the Delta Family YMCA.

Getting back to our "operator" game, there is a rumor going about town that the city of Oakley has turned the Moura property over to the Delta Family YMCA, at no charge, in exchange for them building a community center on it. The rumor says the center will house only YMCA programs and leave the city out of any decisions that are being made on the property.

Kaiser said that this is not the case. The city is asking the YMCA to become a partner in building programs at the community center, and at a planning session last week Kaiser brought a draft of the proposal from the YMCA to the City Council members to study. But the proposal, according to Kaiser, doesn't turn the property or the plans for the community center over to the YMCA. It simply adds strength to the grant proposals by working with a community sponsor to run programs that Oakley needs for its residents.

The proposal in no way has taken away control of the property from the city. As a matter of fact, the city still wants to explore ideas for building a library inside the community center.

After listening to all of the rumors going around about the Moura property, one might have the idea that the city was giving away a southern plantation home that just needed some minor repairs to make it into a million-dollar showpiece complete with all of the historical trappings. That is not the case. Drive down O'Hara Avenue and check out the weed-covered patch of sand between O'Hara Park School and the canal for yourself.

If you have any ideas for a fund-raiser or things you want to see on the property, why not get involved on the committee that is overseeing the project. Call Kaiser at the city for details on when the committee meets.

Roni Gehlke's column on life in Oakley appears each week in the Brentwood News.

Distributed by the Contra Costa Times

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