McLean Community Center News: More Space Discussions, Award Won

A McLean Community Center committee continued to wrestle with how to solve what it sees as its future space and fix-up needs at its monthly meeting last week.

After receiving  a  staff report, the Capital Facilities committee concluded that both staff  and community residents needed more room to go about their everyday work and activities.

“We need to update the McLean Community Center for 21st century needs,” said Risa Sanders, committee chair. The Committee is aware of its problems with spacing, but the issue comes at a time where the community center is also facing obligatory updates. Storm water drainage and fire alarm panels at the MCC are outdated and in need of replacement.

Some of the space needs include larger rehearsal halls, better equipped teaching kitchens, and cohesive staff offices.

 The current MCC rehearsal hall, when used as a yoga classroom, can house about 15 people. The rehearsal hall is also used for community meetings and parties.

The MCC kitchen is very limited without teaching space, and classes are often cancelled due to lack of enrollment. As for the MCC staff, offices are dispersed all throughout the building, and there are not enough of them.

George Sachs, Executive director at the MCC, said that a larger but similar multi-use venue would allow the center to meet current and existing community needs. One of the main concerns was whether or not the additional space would be made available  at the current MCC location or as a separate entity in downtown McLean.

The idea of hiring an architect or engineer was proposed to give the Committee a professional opinion and a better idea of what changes they should or should not be making in the future.

In other news: The McLean Community Center has received a Community Partner Award from the ENDependence Center of Northern Virginia, Inc. (ECNV).

Every year, ECNV give an award to a community partner that goes “above and beyond” to make the community more accessible to people with disabilities.

 “In recognition of its support for the community integration of citizens with disabilities, which has demonstrated by the establishment of a Specially Adapted Resource Club (SPARC) program for youth with autism at the Old Firehouse Teen Center,” the award said.

 “ECNV is familiar with the recent generosity and accessibility that McLean Community Center has provided to SPARC at the Old Firehouse Teen Center,” said ECNV Executive Director David Burds.
 
MCC Executive Director George Sachs spearheaded the effort to establish a SPARC site at the Old Firehouse Teen Center (OFTC).