Belle Haven Community Campus grand opening May 18

Published on April 22, 2024

MENLO PARK, Calif., April 22, 2024 – The City of Menlo Park and its partners proudly announce the grand opening of the Belle Haven Community Campus (BHCC) Saturday, May 18, 2024. Opening celebrations will commence with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 11 a.m., and include tours of the facility, live local music, food and activities for children and families.

The City is thrilled to welcome residents to their new 37,000 square-foot multiservice campus that includes major programs Belle Haven Library, Belle Haven Pool, Belle Haven Youth Center, Menlo Park Senior Center, and Onetta Harris Community Center. The new campus includes a public gymnasium, fitness center, movement studio, makerspace and event hall as well as indoor and outdoor gathering spaces. The project preserves mature redwood trees and incorporates drought-tolerant, native plantings on the campus grounds adjacent to Joseph B. Kelly Park. Design and construction of the BHCC took only four years from concept to completion, and is the result of an innovative partnership between Menlo Park community members, the City of Menlo Park, and Meta Platforms, Inc.

“The top priority for this project was and is to build a new community space that will improve the quality of life for residents in the Belle Haven neighborhood and the rest of Menlo Park. A beautiful campus, a jewel nestled in a neighborhood, I like to call the treasure triangle because of our great diversity of residents,” said Mayor Cecilia Taylor. The Belle Haven neighborhood has the second highest percentage of African American and Black residents in San Mateo County and has grown its Hispanic/Latinx population in recent years.

BHCC is an all-electric, zero combustion, net zero energy facility with on-site renewable energy generation, battery microgrid, solar pool heating, and electric vehicle charging stations. Its structural design is resilient and serves as an emergency shelter. The City will seek LEED Platinum certification for BHCC, the highest standard of sustainable building that addresses energy, materials, health and indoor environmental quality.
“The many sustainable features of BHCC, from the energy microgrid to renewable energy generation, provide a leading example of innovation in resilient design and support the city’s goals of taking bold action on climate change and preparing for emergencies,” said City Manager Justin Murphy.

The new multigenerational campus, located at 100 Terminal Ave. in Menlo Park’s Belle Haven neighborhood offers a diverse array of programs and resources for local residents of all ages and walks of life. The project was built with the generous financial support of Meta and from City of Menlo Park taxpayers through Measure T bond funds, along with city infrastructure funds. Friends of Menlo Park Library, the Maria S. Hoffman Trust, and Menlo Park Library Foundation generously donated additional financial support to provide furniture, equipment, books and media to outfit the new campus for the community.

Menlo Park-based Meta championed the City’s goals to construct a new community campus that met the needs of residents and responded to community voices who advocated for a new multigenerational campus in the Belle Haven neighborhood.

“We are proud to have partnered with the City of Menlo Park and the community to make this project a reality. It is a direct reflection of years of community conversations, and our efforts to help advance the community’s vision,” said Juan Salazar, director of public policy at Meta.

In addition to free community programs and services through the new Belle Haven Library, the campus will host popular neighborhood-oriented classes that Belle Haven residents have requested such as health and wellness for older adults, Spanish for youth and adults, soul dance and Aztec dance, arts and crafts, coding, job seeker programs and more. Longtime local instructors, nonprofit organizations and community center staff are eagerly looking forward to interacting with residents at the new center once again. Belle Haven residents are able to sign up for classes at BHCC starting April 27 through Menlo Park's Activity Guide.

Juanita Croft, a Belle Haven neighborhood native and beloved instructor of soul line dancing and technology classes via local nonprofit organization Street Code Academy said, “For me, as a lifelong resident and long-time instructor in the Belle Haven neighborhood it has been so exciting to watch the construction of the new community campus. I’m very much looking forward to teaching classes in the new facility where I can once again share my passion and skills with the community.”

Contact:
Kendra Calvert
Public Engagement Manager City of Menlo Park kacalvert@menlopark.gov