COMMUNITY CENTER PATIO

The Foundation launched a major initiative in mid-2009 to renovate the Patio Garden at the Corte Madera Community Center, to make it a more useful and attractive asset to the community.  We knew this would require active participation by public-spirited residents of Corte Madera, who provide the inspiration and the means to do our work.

 

The Community Center has long been a gathering place for Town events and parties.  Adjacent to Town Park, it is central to our community’s life.  While still structurally sound, the facility itself had become worn after 55 years of use.  A grant the Town had obtained for improvements to the building was among those frozen by the State for a year.  The Rec Center’s outdoor Patio Garden also needed renovation, but no Town funds were available for it.  Given this situation, we concluded that the only way these important public assets could get the attention they need was to ask the community to get involved.

 

During 2009 and 2010, we worked in partnership with the Town of Corte Madera and the Corte Madera Lions Club, Women’s Club, and Beautification Committee to raise funds and recruit volunteers.

 

As a group, working with Town staff and volunteers from each of the co-sponsoring organizations, we developed plans to create a much better link between the indoor and the outdoor space, enhance the functionality of the patio. provide outdoor cooking facilities, construct a landscape wall, add new planting, install a fountain to provide visual focus, and improve access to and from Town Park.

 

The Town Council approved Phase 1 of the Patio Renovation Plan in December 2009, and our efforts generated tremendous enthusiasm.  With the help of volunteers and several pro bono professionals, along with great support from the Corte Madera Public Works Department, we were able to complete the major elements of this first phase by July 2010.  We continued working to get the next phase of the plan implemented in following years.

 

We asked the residents of Corte Madera to participate in this worthy effort by making tax-deductible donations to the Corte Madera Community Foundation.  The generosity of Corte Madera’s residents has made it possible for many good things to happen in the past, and it once again helped to fund a successful civic project that’s a source of community pride.