March 19, 2025 | Palo Alto, CA
Meeting 1 Summary
11 Overview
Over
120 community members
attended the kick off meeting for
the Cubberley Project!
The City of Palo Alto hosted the Cubberley Project meeting at the Cubberley Pavilion on March 19, 2025 from 6 - 8pm. Over 120 community members actively participated in the first of three Cubberley Co-Design meetings to inform the project’s Vision and Core Intentions, and to influence programming and greenspace opportunities.
The meeting started with introductions from the Community Services Department and the consultant team, Concordia. Following introductions, the design team presented an overview of Concordia’s mission and design process including Co-Design principles and Nexus thinking, a framework for looking holistically at the needs of community life including categories for Social, Cultural, Economic, Organizational, Educational, and Physical needs. The presentation addressed the previous Cubberley Master Plan from 2019 which serves as a foundation for this process. Then, the team elaborated on the updates on the current process, including the project site area.
Following the presentation, community members participated in two interactive activities. To participate, community members sat at round tables with guided facilitation. Facilitators included “Community Fellows” (local volunteer community ambassadors), City of Palo Alto staff, and Concordia staff.
The first activity focused on reviewing the City
Council’s Vision Session results and validating
the Statement and Core Intentions in alignment
with community members’ vision for the project.
The second activity delved into listing the priority
programmatic elements that Palo Altans need,
then discussing beneficial adjacencies, shared
spaces, and relationships to greenspace for these
programs.
This document summarizes the information gathered at the meeting. Full verbatim comments are available for download as a separate file on the project website at www.PaloAlto.gov/ CubberleyProject
22 Activity 1: Vision & Core Intentions
In February, the Council adopted a Vision Statement and six Core Intentions, building off past work including the 2019 Cubberley Plan.
The Vision Statement presented to the community read:
City Council Vision Session
Example Activity Sheet
The Core Intentions, or guiding goals, that resulted
from that Statement were put into Nexus domains
to help ensure a holistic view. They were:
Social
Offer wellness opportunities
OrganizationalOrganizational
Encourage exploration and connection
Physical
Build a flexible resilience hub
Cultural
Support arts, culture, and collaboration
Educational
Provide an always-learning environment
EconomicEconomic
Balance realistic expectations with accessibility
With that as a baseline, each table reviewed and
validated the Vision Statement and the Core
Intentions in alignment with community values and
priorities.
Residents proposed over 330 separate ideas
to expand upon the Vision Statement and Core
Intentions arranged by the 6 Nexus Categories.
However, several themes emerged as key priorities
in multiple categories.
The future community center should be:
“A vibrant and beloved destination with activities,
amenities, and offerings that promote learning,
joy, and wellbeing where all cultures and
generations belong.”
33 Activity 1 Results
The graph below accounts for the numbers of ideas placed within each Core Intention. The Physical domain (Build a flexible resilience hub) had the most ideas.
Across all of the intentions community members valued: multipurpose, adaptable spaces to accommodate diverse uses over time; gathering hubs for interconnectivity and communication between diverse social, cultural and generational groups; accessibility for all ages, cultures and abilities to access holistic wellness resources; integration of green space and sustainability features in experiential and infrastructural planning; and affordability for local palo altans and for tenants who have a community focus.
Below are more detailed summaries of the data organized according to Nexus category.
Physical
84 Physical comments included the following themes: design multi-purpose, adaptable spaces; meet demand for recreation and wellness programs; clarify sustainability and resilience goals; improve accessibility, parking and infrastructure; provide a hub for community and social connectivity.
Social
There were 59 comments in the Social category.
Emerging themes included preserve and
enhance arts & culture spaces; prioritize
community-centered development; provide
gathering spaces especially around sharing
food; strengthen communication and
interconnectivity; and honor local identity
while blending with new ideas.
Cultural
57 Cultural comments addressed the following
themes: support holistic physical, mental
and social wellness; foster intergenerational,
inclusive spaces; support programming for all
abilities and ages; integrate greenspace and
sustainability; provide hubs for gathering like
cafes and other unstructured spaces.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Vision Statement
Organizational
Educational
Economic
Cultural
Soci al
Physi cal
Physical
Social
Cultural
Economic
Educational
Organizational
Vision Statement
44 EconomicEconomic
There were 50 comments in the Economic category. Emerging themes in this category included: ensure affordability and accessibility to community members as well as tenants who serve community needs; design for functionality and needs rather than flashy aesthetics; prioritize sustainability and long-term planning including considering renovation of existing structures and flexibility of new spaces; design for diverse and inclusive spaces including accessibility for special needs and aging populations; find community balance in shared resources between existing nearby facilities.
Educational
41 comments pertained to Educational values. Emerging themes included: provide learning opportunities across age groups; foster the existing and diverse art and culture organizations; create inclusive and inviting spaces for social interaction and cultural exchange; provide programs for wellness (physical, social, emotional and cultural); support family and early childhood programs.
OrganizationalOrganizational
From the 40 organizational comments, the following themes emerged: encourage community interconnectivity; design for long-term adaptability and flexibility; improve accessibility and multi- modal transportation; support arts and culture through recreation; maintain affordability for Palo Altans and for tenants who provide community services.
Overall, participants focused on flexibility, inclusivity, sustainability, and long-term community engagement. These results will be used to develop updated Core Intentions to be presented at the next community meeting. For full results, please refer to the appendix. 55 Activity 2: Programs & Adjacencies
For the second activity, participants reviewed a list
of programs that had been included in the previous
2019 Master Plan and also included in preliminary
discussions from the 2025 Kickoff Meetings. Each table
then discussed which programs should or should not
be included in the future Community Center, and which
ones were missing. They made a list on the side of the
activity sheet about which programs they did and did not want to include.
From their list of prioritized programs, they then
indicated which programs should be indoor or outdoor,
which could share a space, and which should be
adjacent/separated. If more than one program could
share a building, those programs were written on the
same indoor square. The same directions were given for
the outdoor squares.
Lastly, they arranged the indoor and outdoor program
squares spatially on an activity sheet grid to start to define relationships and adjacencies between indoor and greenspace.
Of the 635 suggestions, there were 472 indicating
indoor programming and 163 indicating outdoor
spaces. There were 124 unique programs suggested
across both indoor and outdoor spaces. Every program
that was listed from the previous Master Plan was
selected at least once. However, some programs were
specifically mentioned to not be included. The most
common programs that people do not want to see were
Dog Park (3 negative mentions), Upholstery Class (3
negative mentions), Skate Park (2 negative mentions),
and Library (2 negative mentions). Both Dog Park and
Upholstery Class received more negative mentions than
positive selections, while Skate Park and Library still had an overall positive count when all the mentions were
accounted for.
Indoor programs Outdoor programs
General Indoor Notes General Outdoor Notes
General Indoor Notes General Outdoor Notes
Priority
Program List
Priority
Program List
Amphitheater
Dance class
Martial Arts
Gymnastics
Activity 2 Results
66 Outdoor Programs
38 unique outdoor programs were selected by participants at the meeting. The most commonly selected program was Open Greenspace. This was followed by Playground and Amphitheater. Below is a graph of the programs that received more than six selections across all tables at the meeting. The full graph is located in the appendix.
2025 Most Mentioned Programs
Theater/Performance Space
Dance Class
Open Greenspace
Art Studio
Art Class
2019 Most Mentioned Programs
Adult Education
Theater/Performance Space
Greenspace
Makerspace
Senior/Multigenerational Programs
Indoor Programs
86 unique indoor programs were selected by participants at the meeting. The most commonly selected program was Theater/Performance space. This was followed by Dance Classes. Rounding out the top three were Art Studio space and Art Classes. Below is a graph of the programs that received more than ten selections across all tables at the meeting. The full graph is located in the appendix.
Theater/Performance Space
Dance Class
Art Studio
Art Class
Gym Facility
Flexible Rental Space
Café
Martial Arts
Makerspace
After School Care
Wellness Center
Informal Lounge Area
Workshop/Woodworking
Rehearsal Space
5 2010 25 3015 35
Open Greenspace
Playground
Amphitheater
Pool/Water Area
Tennis Courts
Outdoor Event Space
Community Garden
Walking/Biking Paths
Plaza/Gathering Area
Pickleball Court
Basketball Court
2 84 10 126 14 16
77 Shared Spaces and Adjacencies
On average, tables included close to three (2.9)
programs per indoor square. This implies that
community members see opportunities for
different programs to share building space where
appropriate. Visual arts and craft-based programs
were selected to be in shared spaces often such as
Art Classes, Art Studios, Art Gallery, Makerspace,
and Woodworking. Similarly, performing arts and
movement-based programs like Dance and Martial
arts were also suggested to share space. Another
frequently suggested grouping was Gym, Wellness
Center, Senior Programs, and Fitness & Weight
Room.
For outdoor programs, there was less shared
programming. On average, participants placed a
little more than two programs (2.15) per outdoor
square. This was mainly because the size required
for the outdoor programming was usually more.
Programs like Open Greenspace, Amphitheater, and
Community Garden were often put on their own
square. Many participants combined Basketball,
Tennis, and Pickleball to have a courts area.
However, there was division about whether or not
to have Pickleball and Tennis courts share space or
be completely separate.
Some common adjacency themes emerged across the different tables. Many tables grouped together clumps of similar programs. For instance, performing and movement programs were often placed near each other. Education, Early Childcare, Afterschool Care, and Playground were put adjacent often. Wellness, fitness, and other recreation programs were put near each other but also often put further away from arts programs. Cafe and other food service ideas were commonly put next to Theater/Performance Space, Amphitheater, and Student/Teen Center.
Some spatial themes emerged. Many groups put outdoor programming on one side, indoor on another.
Other layouts featured smaller interconnected outdoor areas facing both towards the interior as well as the exterior of the site. Others put outdoor areas in a central location, similar to a large courtyard. Some layouts featured paths cutting through building massing. All of these shared program ideas and adjacencies will inform the development of three concept plans.
88 After Action Review
Next Steps
After the meeting, community members completed an After Action Review which asked the following three questions:
1. Please list 1-3 positive outcomes of this meeting.
2. Do you have any additional concerns, questions, and/or comments?
3. Do you have any suggestions for improvements?
Main Themes for Positive Outcomes
Community members highlighted meeting new people, sharing ideas, and working together. They also valued the opportunity to hear different voices, needs, and priorities. These themes reflected an engaged, idea-driven, and inclusive process which encouraged making new connections among diverse community members.
Main Themes for Concerns
Many concerns centered around ensuring that existing tenants can continue to afford the space after renovations. Other common concerns addressed construction budget, phasing, and decision- making transparency. These themes highlighted affordability, construction phasing for continuity of programs, and prioritizing community needs.
Main Themes for Improvements
Community members emphasized the need for more outreach, advertising, and inclusion of more diverse community voices, especially youth, in the process. Participants also requested more structured time for working sessions and clearer activity instructions. These responses highlighted a strong desire for better communication, a clearer process, and thoughtful space planning.
The data and results from the first community meeting will be used to develop three concept designs for the Cubberley Project. These concept designs, along with the updated Vision Statement and Core Intentions, will be presented at the next community meeting.
The next meeting will be on June 12, 2025 from 6 - 8pm at the Pavilion at Cubberley Community Center. For more information go to: www.PaloAlto.gov/CubberleyProject 99