Clovis selects architect for downtown senior center and transit hub

Clovis is taking the next step toward building a city senior center and transit hub.

The City Council on Monday night hired Paul Halajian Architects of Clovis to design the 5.7-acre Landmark Commons. The contract with Halajian is for $575,600. Halajian has designed churches in Clovis and Fresno, as well as libraries in Tulare, Fresno, Orange Cove, Mendota and Fowler.

“We’re really excited we’re moving forward and starting to get the project going,” said Andy Haussler, the city’s economic and community development director. Haussler presented the project before approval Monday night.

 

The property also will house a new 30,000-square-foot Fresno County Library branch, which will be built through Fresno County. The county is still in the process of selecting an architect. That selection is tentatively scheduled in June.

Councilwoman Lynne Ashbeck and Councilman Jose Flores both expressed minor concerns about the project to Haussler, but ultimately supported the project. Mayor Pro-Tem Bob Whalen said the project will be a significant addition to Old Town Clovis.

All three made it a unanimous approval. Drew Bessinger and Vong Mouanoutoua, elected March 7, will be seated March 27.

Groundbreaking is expected in 2018. When complete in 2020, the project will cost about $25 million.

Fresno County Public Library is paying a bulk of the library project’s costs, but the city also will chip in money. The transit hub is being paid for with grants. The 25,000-squarer-foot senior center is a city-funded project.

A Saint Agnes Medical Foundation clinic is planned for about 4,000 square feet in the senior center with a separate entrance. It will offer seniors an opportunity to participate in activities and get meals and medical checkups at one location.

The project also will offer additional parking to accommodate Old Town Clovis visitors and events. An agreement with the Clovis Veterans Memorial District, which plans a museum at the corner of Clovis Avenue and Third Street, will add 55 parking spaces that can be used by both the city and the district.

Environmental documents, expected later this year, must be prepared before work can begin.

The proposed senior center will be more than twice the size of the existing one and the library will be about four times larger.

The existing senior center is being considered as a library for the San Joaquin College of Law. The existing library site likely will become part of Clovis city offices.

This story was originally published March 20, 2017 at 8:21 PM with the headline "Clovis selects architect for downtown senior center and transit hub."