For over 50 years, the Lathrop Community Center has served residents in various capacities.
The facility at 15557 5th St. – this includes the Lathrop Senior Center and Scott Brooks Gymnasium – could be replaced with the proposed Lathrop Multi-Purpose Community Center Complex adjacent to Lathrop High.
According to Director of Parks & Recreation Todd Sebastian, his department has been working with Barker Rinker Seacat Architecture and MIG on the conceptual design of a community center complex on an estimated 41-acre city-owned property located between Spartan Way and Dos Reis Road, just east of Land Park Drive.
“The City of Lathrop’s goal is to create a site plan that is intentionally inclusive, interactive, innovative, and welcoming for our diverse community,” Sebastian said.
As one of California’s fastest growing communities, he added at the Oct. 2 Parks & Recreation Commission meeting that the city has significantly outgrown the aging Lathrop Community Center.
“I think we have over 350 basketball players and just one basketball court – 35 teams on one court just doesn’t do,” Sebastian said.
As the city continues to grow, the Parks & Recreation Department has been working to develop a multi-purpose community center Site Plan in order to have a grant-ready project, Sebastian noted.
Commissioners approved the Site Plan, which calls for linear-approach design along the San Joaquin River with green space.
The big vision for the plan, which could be built in phases, would consist of with a multi-sports facility, lighted cricket field, fitness area, pickleball courts, wedding garden, and an animal shelter, to name a few.
“The site plan recognizes the history of Lathrop through an architecturally unique design and landscape, ensures sustainability and walkability, includes public art, and serves as resilient building to support a community in times of crisis and celebration,” said Sebastian in his power-point presentation.
He and members of the conceptual design team have looked at other community centers in cities ranging from Denver to Lewisville, Tx., for inspiration.
Plans for the structures could have the exterior look of a modern farm house, as an homage to Lathrop’s agricultural history.
“This is just the start,” said Sebastian. “We own the land.”
The approved site plan of the proposed Lathrop Multi-Purpose Community Center Complex will continue move forward in its development before being presented to the Lathrop City Council.
