Gilroy staff outline Civic Center Master Plan; draft EIR flags Wheeler Auditorium loss as only significant, unavoidable impact
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Summary
City staff presented a draft Civic Center Master Plan that would demolish four downtown buildings to build a new city hall, a multi‑generational center, a recreation/aquatic center and a civic park; the draft EIR identified the loss of Wheeler Auditorium as the single significant and unavoidable environmental impact and recommends historic documentation prior to demolition.
City of Gilroy project manager Ryan Ossington outlined a draft Civic Center Master Plan that would replace four existing downtown buildings — City Hall, the Annex, Wheeler Auditorium and the Senior Center — with a new city hall, a multi‑generational facility, a recreation and aquatic center, and a civic park. The plan envisions expanded parking (about 425 spaces in the footprint) with an optional 2‑ to 3‑story garage that could add roughly 180 stalls if needed, and consolidates dispersed city staff into a larger city hall.
The presentation included program and size estimates: the multi‑generational facility is preliminarily estimated at about 41,600 square feet, the recreation/aquatic center about 42,600 square feet, and a proposed city hall about 47,500 square feet. Ossington said the civic park would be about the size of a football field and include a shaded paseo for community events, a walking loop, an interactive water feature and bike parking.
Ossington said the city contracted with ELS Urban Architecture and Design (contract awarded by the city council in November 2024) to prepare the plan and is working with EMC Planning Group to produce the draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR). Explaining the EIR process under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Ossington said the draft document categorized impacts as no impact, less‑than‑significant, potentially significant, or significant and unavoidable. "We had 6 that were no impact, 10 that were less than significant, and 1 that was significant and unavoidable," he said, identifying the loss of Wheeler Auditorium as that single significant and unavoidable impact.
On Wheeler Auditorium, local historians and residents spoke during the public Q&A. Bill O'Connor asked whether Wheeler "has any unique design that I can see" and questioned whether age alone justified demolition. Dan Donovan of the Gilroy Historical Society said Wheeler was built by a local figure, contained Art Deco elements and "was used as an armory during World War II," adding that Wheeler and its namesake figure have historical importance to the community. Ossington described mitigation steps in the draft EIR: "prior to issuing any demolition permits, we would have a historic architectural historian document Wheeler in accordance with ... the historic American building survey," including drawings, floor plans, extensive photographs and written documentation to be submitted to the California Historical Resources Information System.
Residents also raised operational and circulation concerns. A library patron asked whether the pool's location would reduce parking near the library; staff replied the plan would retain the library's main entrances and expand parking on the Hannah side to increase total stalls, while also exploring dedicated library parking. Margaret Aaron, who lives across from the library, pressed staff on traffic; Ossington said ELS oversaw a traffic impact study and the initial finding was that projected changes in traffic patterns would be minimal given the current footprint and usage.
On operations and programming, an attendee asked whether services at the multi‑generational facility would be free. Ossington said the "current plan that we are operating under would be a free model," and contrasted that with the Morgan Hill CRC, which partners with the YMCA; he cautioned the city has not finalized operational models and that decisions could change as financing and phasing are developed.
Staff emphasized next steps and financing: once the master plan is finalized it will be presented to the city council for formal consideration (adopt or reject). If adopted, staff will shift to financing and phasing and aim to pursue a ballot measure in the 2028 election cycle to fund construction. Ossington said the city has rough order‑of‑magnitude pricing but has not completed detailed cost estimates.
The meeting closed with staff offering the presentation slides and recording on cityofgilroy.org/ccmp and an email (ryan.osentin@cityofgilroy.org) for follow‑up questions to be submitted for the consultant record.
The plan remains at the policy and design stage: council action would be required to adopt the master plan, and any demolition or construction would be contingent on subsequent approvals and project‑level environmental review and mitigation.
