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Community Services annual report: participation growth, volunteer surge, library innovation center planned
Summary
Staff presented the department’s first annual report showing growth across many programs — camps, adaptive programming, volunteers, tree plantings — and outlined library plans for an innovation center and recent Heritage Room upgrades.
Staff presented the Community Services Department’s first annual report covering fiscal 2025 and asked the commission to receive the update. The report summarized participation increases across several program areas, growth in volunteer hours, investments in parks and facilities, and library improvements and future plans.
Highlights provided by staff included: Adventure Camp had 963 total participants with a weekly average of about 114; adaptive programming offered 74 activities and just under 4,000 participants; recreation classes combined offered 176 activities, 765 sessions and over 8,000 participants; the department reported just under 1,400 volunteers contributing more than 23,000 hours.
On parks and capital work staff said the city invested approximately $2.8 million in park improvements last year, opened three new playgrounds and completed deferred‑maintenance work on several sites. For the urban reforestation program, staff reported 9,000 trees planted over three years toward a five‑year goal of 15,000 trees.
The library reopened and expanded its Heritage Room in October 2024 and added a memory lab (digitization equipment). Staff described a planned 2,500‑square‑foot innovation center in the library (funded in part by a $2.5 million grant) that will include a makerspace (3D printers, laser cutter, sewing machines), VR career‑training simulators and workforce training partnerships with local educational partners; staff aim to open the innovation center by next summer.
Staff also listed grant activity: an application to a National Park Service legacy partnership program that could provide up to $15 million for a city park project (the application passed a state screening and is awaiting federal review), a $100,000 Green Latinos grant for downtown tree planting and a $4,000 award for senior travel.
Commissioners asked clarifying questions about program pricing, school partnerships for after‑school Kids Club sites, park inspection work, maintenance backlogs and outreach for the Heritage Room’s memory lab. Staff provided clarifications on pricing differences between staff‑led and contract classes and confirmed coordination with the Corona‑Norco Unified School District on Kids Club space and ELOP funds that have supported free after‑school programming at some sites.
