SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — Leaders and volunteers of The San Diego LGBT Community Center (The Center) hosted an Open House celebration Saturday to honor a major milestone in the phased reopening of The Center – the physical doors to the renovated center are open once again, even though the virtual doors never closed during the COVID pandemic.
The Center provides more than 80,000 direct service visits to San Diego community members annually. Organizers for The Center said the renovations of the building’s common areas and community gathering spaces on the ground floor of the nonprofit’s 17,500 sq.ft. iconic community center are part of the process to continue The Center’s innovative and relevant work as the nonprofit approaches their 50th anniversary in 2022.
Primary features include:
- The Center’s Welcome Lobby is now a more welcoming, safe, modern, and beautiful space. Walls were removed for a more open concept, with fresh paint and modern flooring.
- A new state-of-the-art heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system provides the cleanest air to our staff and community.
- Restrooms on the main level have been transformed - fresh paint, new countertops and sinks, new lighting and fixtures, and new bathroom floors.
- New LED lights installed in the lobby, throughout the main level, and in all hallways, to improve safety and to set the mood for our many community events.
- The Center’s historic Auditorium, the heart of many of community celebrations, has a new sound system with an enhanced sound mixer with automatic sound balancing, speakers to alleviate reverb, a new wall-mounted touch screen for system navigation new wireless microphone, and a direct tie-in to the hearing loop to enhance those with T-Coil technology in assisted hearing devices.
- New sleek and durable flooring covers the entire first floor including the Welcome Lobby, community rooms, all restrooms, and our Auditorium.
- Addition of two new community spaces on the first floor.
- The Resource Fair and Center team-led tours are designed to welcome the community back to The Center and provide an opportunity to reunite and learn about what’s new at the center and to connect with familiar and new faces.
Services and programs that will have a presence at the Resource Fair are:
- Advocacy and Civic Engagement and Community Engagement at The Center
- Behavioral Health Services
- Black Services at The Center
- Youth Services at The Center
- Family Services at The Center
- Housing Services at The Center
- Latin@ Services at The Center
- Senior Services at The Center
- Sexual Health and Wellness - #BeTheGeneration
- Transgender and Nonbinary Services at The Center
- Volunteer Services at The Center
- The Center’s Training Institute
For more information and to register for tours, click here.