Cathedral City council narrows community center site choices and asks staff to explore additional financing

Cathedral City council members on Wednesday reviewed a feasibility study for a proposed community recreation center and instructed staff to narrow the number of candidate sites and probe additional financing options.

Consultants from Group 4 told the council the study combined two rounds of public engagement and stakeholder meetings with technical site analysis. "We have got the schedule and work plan," the consultant said, and reported that "over 1,900 participants" took part in outreach, with community priorities including accessible, multigenerational spaces, youth and teen programming, indoor recreation and arts and performance spaces.

The consultant presented nine candidate sites — a mix of city‑owned parcels (including the library, the site across from the Salvation Army and Dennis Keats Park) and non‑city properties (old Walmart, old Burlington Coat Factory, Uptown Village and a parcel near the amphitheater) — and recommended evaluation criteria including availability, capacity, zoning potential and overall cost. Consultants noted city‑owned sites reduce land purchase or lease costs and entitlement uncertainty.

Council members and staff spent significant time on the library site, where consultants said 95 existing library parking spaces are available but that contractual parking rights for an adjacent operator, Big League Dreams, reduce usable spaces for some events. Consultants estimated potential expansion of 125–150 additional spaces along Dave Kelly Road or by managed shared parking with the adjacent high school but warned that peak‑event logistics and ADA access would need mitigation.

Dennis Keats Park drew concern because grant money that funded soccer fields may impose conditions; consultants said converting part of that site for an indoor recreation component could affect "two of your 12 fields" unless replacement land is acquired or grant terms permit reconfiguration.

On costs and financing, staff summarized Measure W allocations and bond capacity. "With respect to the anticipated 5,000,000," a city finance staff member said, "you look at 5 pillars. . . . When you take that out, we have 3,000,000 left" for parks, community center operations and debt service tied to a roughly $13,000,000 capital estimate. Council members pressed whether a 20‑ or 30‑year bond or other mechanisms could materially increase capital capacity; staff told the council a 30‑year issue generated only about $2.5 million more principal in the analysis presented.

Several council members, including Mayor Pro Tem Gutierrez, urged the city to study alternative financing, saying the current approach risks ruling out otherwise viable privately owned sites. "We're doing this backwards," the mayor pro tem said, arguing staff should first establish what the city can afford and then match sites and program footprints to available financing; he proposed exploring lease/leaseback, design‑build leaseback and other public‑private partnership structures.

After debate, council directed staff to carry forward four priority sites for further, detailed cost analysis and negotiation where appropriate: the city library site, the parcel across from the Salvation Army, and the two former commercial properties (old Burlington and old Walmart). Council asked staff to return in February with refined capital and operational cost data for both smaller and larger building footprints and to investigate alternate financing and potential owner negotiations for non‑city‑owned sites.

Public comment at the meeting included residents urging a central location and a larger recreation/gym focus to lower per‑square‑foot operating costs; one speaker said, "Central location is gonna be very important" and warned the city will likely have only one chance to place a bond of this size.

Next steps: staff will develop firmer cost estimates for the narrowed sites, vet grant and lease restrictions (including the Dennis Keats grant), and present financing scenarios and any recommended outreach to private site owners at a future meeting.