TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Philippe Eskandar, City Manager
BY: Eddie Covarrubias, Interim Community Services Director DATE: December 10, 2025
SUBJECT: 2-YEAR COMMUNITY CENTER UTILIZATION REPORT
STRATEGIC PLAN CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
Engaged and Connected Residents
Efficient, Responsive, and Effective City Services
Fiscally Responsible and Transparent City Government
Inviting and Relevant City Facilities
BACKGROUND
At the end of September 2023, the City hosted a grand re-opening of the Community Center after a 15-month, $8.4 million renovation. Prior to that, in July 2023 and in preparation for the grand opening, the City Council approved an updated Community Services rental fee schedule which included a threetiered pricing structure for facility rentals. At the time, the City Council approved the Group B (San Marino residents and businesses) and Group C (non-residents and other businesses/organizations) pricing recommendations, which were based on a market-driven pricing philosophy. In addition, Council directed staff to keep Group A (San Marino community groups and not-forprofit groups) user fees at historical pricing.
The City Council further directed staff to analyze the cost of operating the facility (per hour and per square foot) to potentially offer Group A a “cost-ofservice” pricing model that would ensure a significant discount, while also ensuring that pricing directly correlates to operating cost recovery.
In October 2023, the City Council approved a comprehensive facility rental fee schedule that provided a generous, cost-of-service discount to Group A (Attachment 1). To complement the new fee schedule and assist all customers Gretchen Shepherd Romey, Mayor
Tony Chou, Vice Mayor
Hunter Chang, Council Member
John Chou, Council Member
Calvin Lo, Council Member
interested in making rental reservations, the Recreation Division’s Facilities page on the City’s website was updated to include a description of the facility and its amenities, a floorplan, and a document entitled “How to Rent the Community Center.” This document also includes a list of FAQs (frequently asked questions) related to requirements for serving food and alcohol and bringing in outside entertainment (Attachment 2).
DISCUSSION
Hours of Operation
The Community Center has been in full operation for 26 months (October 2023 – November 2025) providing programming for all ages, facility rentals for both private and community groups, City-sponsored special events, community meetings and outreach initiatives, as well as internal staff meetings and trainings. Business hours are Monday through Thursday 7 AM – 5 PM and Friday 7 AM – 11 AM, with evening and weekend operating hours varying week-to-week based on programming and rentals. The facility is available to schedule, program, and rent Monday through Thursday until 9 PM, Friday and Saturday until 10 PM, and Sunday until 5 PM.
The facility is available to be programmed 92 hours per week or 4,784 hours per year (not including closures). The facility is closed for a combined 17 days out of the year for City-observed holiday closures and Community Services’ special event closures (in 2025, the facility is closed an additional 3 days for San Marino Public Library Foundation events). In addition, staff work closely with the San Marino Unified School District to avoid excessive congestion in the shared parking lot spaces during programming times.
Utilization of Operating Hours by Activity Type
The table below provides a high-level overview of how the facility’s operating hours are used and scheduled by type of activity: City programming, rentals, internal bookings, and hours not currently being utilized. In addition, it offers a snapshot within this two-year reporting period of how usage has increased by type year over year and how only 21% of operating hours remain unutilized.
Table 1
Percentage of Operating Hours Used by Type
Year 1 Year 2 +/-
Programming 46% 60% +14%
Rentals 5% 9% +4%
Internal Bookings 10% 10% 0%
Not Utilized 39% 21% -18%
Utilization Metrics
The following list of questions below (Table 2) provides a general overview and analysis of how the facility has been programmed and utilized during Year 1 and Year 2 of operations (post renovation). It also depicts percentage change year over year. The questions represent several best-practice metrics.
Monitoring these metrics going forward will be important as the facility continues to be internally programmed based on community interests and possible increases in demand by outside user groups.
Table 2
Year 1 Year 2 YOY % Change
1 What are the available operating hours per year? 4398 4387 0% 2 How many hours of programming are currently provided per year? 2037 2633 29% 3 How many hours of rentals are booked per year? 206 390 89% 4 How many hours of internal bookings are booked per year? 445 451 1% 5 What percentage of operating hours are currently being utilized? 61% 79% 30% 6 How many estimated total visitors has the Community Center had? 16684 22944 38% 7 How many total program participants has the Community Center had? 12914 16882 31% 8 How many internal meetings have been booked? 92 71 -23% 9 How many private rentals has there been within each rental group? Group A 15 19 27%
Group B 7 8 14%
Group C 12 26 117%
Totals 34 53 56%
Questions
Community Group Use
During this two-year reporting period, 9 local community organizations / notfor-profit groups (Group A) utilized the facility for meetings and events for a total of 34 bookings. See the chart below for organization names and total number of occurrences.
Programs Offered and Participants Served
The percentage of total operating hours utilized for programming at the end of Year 2 is 60% (see Table 1), which is an increase of 29% year over year (see Table 3). The total number of participants served has also risen impressively year over year by 31%, from 12,914 to 16,882.
Table 3
Year 1 Year 2 % Change
Program Hours 2,037 2,633 +29%
Program
Participants 12,914 16,882 +31%
Facility Rental Use on the Rise
Currently, of the total operating hours, the facility is used for rentals 9% of the time. This is an 89% increase in hours from Year 1 (see Table 2). The breakdown of user groups by residents versus non-resident is 56% to 44% respectively, with Group C utilization increasing by 117% from Year 1 to Year 2 as shown in Table 2 above. These favorable statistics indicate that the newly renovated Community Center is gaining a solid reputation in San Marino, and throughout the San Gabriel Valley, as a place to gather, celebrate, and do business.
Facility Tours and Conversions
Another performance indicator for rental venues is a tour conversion rate, which measures how often tours convert into confirmed facility reservations.
Staff are pleased to report that the tour conversion average is currently 75%.
The table below provides a two-year comparison of tours given, rentals booked, and rentals not booked. The primary reason for not booking is that the desired rental date is not available.
Table 4
Tours /
Conversions Year 1 Year 2 Avg.
Booked 23 26
Not Booked 12 5
Total Tours 35 31
Conversion Rate 66% 84% 75%
Marketing and Promotional Strategies
Over the past two years, staff have taken a mixed approach to marketing and communication strategies. For program and event promotion, marketing efforts have been comprehensive and aggressive leveraging several communication channels, such as the quarterly 24-page Community Services Guide, City’s website, social media, monthly Community Services’ enewsletter, City Manager’s Weekly Briefing (e-newsletter), press releases in local newspapers, and flyers / posters.
Related to promotion for rentals, staff have taken a more conservative approach in observance of the Council’s original concerns and direction that residents, San Marino businesses, local community groups, and not-for-profit organizations should receive priority access to booking the facility over groups from outside of San Marino.
Based on the strong performance data and upward trends presented in this report for both programs and rentals, these marketing and promotional strategies appear to be effective.
Overall Facility Utilization
The facility is performing quite well after only two years of operation, achieving a 79% utilization rate of its total annual operating hours. (This figure is calculated by dividing total facility usage hours by total available operating hours.) While Year 1 indicated 61% usage, the second year of operation saw that metric rise 18% as new programs were added and rental use increased.
The unutilized hours of operation are predominately dispersed amongst weekday afternoons and evenings and weekend hours. Over the next two years, staff aim to continue to grow programming during the week at midday and evenings, and Saturday mornings, which is best practice for a facility of this type. A full list of programs and events that have been held at the Community Center in the last two years can be found in Attachment 3.
Looking Ahead
Staff recommend the following goals and strategies to maintain the current effective mix of programs and rentals, while further expanding rental utilization on nights and weekends to fill unutilized hours of operation. • Consider the development of a dedicated Facility Rental brochure. • Consider targeted outreach to conference and wedding planner groups in the SGV.
• Consider targeted outreach to public and private schools for recitals, small theatre productions, dances, graduations, and holiday programs. • Plan an annual Community Center Showcase event targeting event planners - conferences, corporate / business meetings, bridal and private parties.
• Continue to track and monitor demand for rentals and ensure San Marino community groups are prioritized.
• Continue to ensure a balanced program schedule that prioritizes adult, senior, and family programming.
Recreation Commission Feedback
This item was presented to the Recreation Commission on November 10. The list below summarizes their thoughts and feedback:
• Consider asking renters where / how they are hearing about this venue to identify effective marketing and communication efforts • Market the Library and Community Center rental spaces together • Consider installing professional lighting for the Library and Community Center outdoor patio spaces (3) to support evening rentals / general use • Consider analyzing trends in usage by space (ex. frequency of usage of Multipurpose Rooms versus Fireside Room)
FISCAL IMPACT & PROCUREMENT REVIEW
There is no fiscal impact and procurement review is not applicable.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney's office has reviewed and approved as to form.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the Council receive and file the report. If the City Council concurs with staff’s recommendation, an appropriate motion would be:
“I move to receive and file the 2-Year Community Center Utilization Report.”
ATTACHMENTS
1. Community Center Rental Fees
2. How to Rent the Community Center
3. Programs Offered at the Community Center