Belmont revives Barrett Community Center master-plan refresh; options include pool, gym, resiliency features

Group 4 Architects and Belmont Parks and Recreation staff presented an updated master-plan refresh for the Barrett Community Center at the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting on July 16, proposing a range of building options and renewed public engagement ahead of design and cost-estimating work.

Jonathan Hartman, principal at Group 4 Architects, told commissioners the firm is updating the 2019 conceptual plan to reflect recent community input, current construction costs and changing recreation trends. “We’re not starting over from 2019,” Hartman said. “We’re building upon that, and working through those design and architectural updates.”

What the refresh covers: Group 4 outlined a “menu” of building permutations: a base community‑center building (roughly a 20,000‑square‑foot small center), a 31,000‑square‑foot plan reflecting the 2019 program, and a larger recreation center that would include a gymnasium and/or aquatics facility (the larger composite options raise square‑foot totals and parking needs). The team described the master plan as a phased effort: programming validation, updated cost estimating, schematic design and then construction documents and bidding.

Core design…