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2013 WRPA Spotlight Award

Category: Best Facility

Nominee: The South Tacoma Activity & Recreation (STAR) Center

Summary Co-located within the South End Recreation & Adventure (SERA) Campus adjacent to the Metro Parks’

sports complex and strategic partners - the Boys & Girls Club's Topping Hope Center and Gray Middle

School - this eco-minded center is designed for LEED Gold certification, universal access, adventure and

fun.

The 32,000 square foot STAR Center offers a

stunning new hall designed to accommodate

large community events and private rentals, a

new music and dance studio, a culinary arts

kitchen, power generating fitness equipment

and web interface features, and a dynamic

indoor/outdoor children's playground with an

adjacent party rental space.

Questionnaire

1. What were the primary community needs and design objectives that this project was required to

meet and how did the final project meet those objectives?

In planning for a new recreation facility in the south Tacoma area, Metro Parks’ leaders conducted a

thoughtful planning process to avoid recreating resources already available in the area. Tacoma's

residents have traditionally resisted projects they believe would duplicate existing services and facilities.

Market research confirmed that they felt the same way about the proposed STAR Center.

Guided by this sentiment, Metro Parks Tacoma chose to design a facility that could operate in tandem

with a new middle school and a Boys & Girls Club that were located on a site known as the SERA

Campus, which also included six ball fields. As part of the planning process for the center, a concept

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plan was developed for the entire 72-acres calling for the creation of a new regional park with an

adventure park, sprayground, outdoor event area, infrastructure to support the South Tacoma Farmers

Market, additional sports fields and more. STAR Center would be designed to augment and leverage

existing campus resources through shared-use of programming spaces within STAR Center, the Boys &

Girls Club and Gray Middle School, resulting in a top-quality

suite of resources across the SERA Campus.

Metro Parks, Tacoma Public Schools and the Boys & Girls

Clubs have operated synergistically for many years. But, this is

the first time that a collaborative planning process led to

developing facilities on a shared campus to better support the

shared missions of each of the partners. Subsequently the

new design for STAR Center didn’t duplicate facilities that

already existed on the campus such as gymnasiums (3),

computer labs or art rooms. It did, however, bring facilities to

the campus that were previously missing such as fitness

rooms, a dance and fitness studio, performance and event

spaces and a one-of-a-kind indoor playground and kids area

called Urban Adventures. STAR Center also includes a number

of public amenities, lounge areas, a fireplace, free

Wi-Fi, café tables, and even a Subway restaurant.

To address residents’ concerns that an existing facility - South

Park Community Center - would be left unused by the arrival

of a larger complex, Metro Parks approached the Asia Pacific

Cultural Center (APCC), a long-time partner which was looking

to relocate. By leasing the old community center, the APCC helped offset project costs while offering

additional cultural programming to South Tacoma.

2. What obstacles did the project encounter and how were they overcome?

The concept of a community recreation facility with amenities and programs designed for the whole

family is still a new concept in South Tacoma, but is

catching on rapidly.

STAR Center experiences major peak hour traffic. As any

park agency would attest, this is a great problem to have.

And, thanks to thoughtful planning which placed the

center within a shared campus of strategic partners, it’s

one which the center is well equipped to handle.

Beginning this fall selected STAR programming will be

expanded relocated to the adjacent middle school and

Boys and Girls Club facilities on the SERA campus.

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3. How does the finished product reflect outstanding use of the site, building materials and other

resources?

The STAR Center incorporates a design which emphasizes both environmental sustainability and

universal accessibility.

The building is in the process of being

"LEED Gold" certified. The eco-friendly

building includes products from recycled

resources, and natural light is used

throughout the building. Unique design

features such reflective tubes look and

function like traditional lighting, but use

only sky light to provide the base for

daily operations. Heating and cooling are

also predominantly regulated by Mother Nature. The building’s highly efficient geo-exchange heating

and cooling system relies on 39 wells running 300 feet deep into the earth’s core. The wells are

connected to two large manifold vaults buried just outside the fitness room. From there water is

pumped into the mechanical room, brought up to the correct temperature and pumped throughout the

building using hydronic radiant floor systems. This

provides even comfortable temperatures throughout

the building. These types of geo-exchange systems

are the most efficient, environmentally clean and

cost-effective systems available, and integrate the

building systems with the larger site to harness the

heat exchanging capacity of the earth to the building's

advantage. Ground source heat pumps rely on an

energy exchange between the indoor air temperature

and the ground. Below ten feet the earth's

temperature is fairly constant, generally around (~55

°F).In the summer same system works in reverse, extracting heat from the building and pushing it out

through the wells. STAR Center beautifully integrates functionality with aesthetic design. The site’s

storm run-off is filtered through picturesque rain gardens complemented by an environmentally themed

public art exhibit . Rather creating unsightly, fenced-off detention ponds, the rain gardens have been

thoughtfully integrated into the building’s landscape, and include a footbridge and path that provide an

interpretive experience within the serene setting.

4. How does this project demonstrate the character of your community and its commitment to parks

and recreation and to the benefits of parks and recreation?

Known for its car lots and one of the largest malls in the northwest, south Tacoma is also home to about

48,000 people and is, in fact, the fastest growing area in the City of Tacoma. Although generally a lower

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income neighborhood, South Tacoma is home to many young working class and professional families as

well as seniors and single young adults from diverse ethnic, educational and economic backgrounds.

Through a combination of innovative design and unique partnership structure, the STAR Center is

helping South Tacoma’s residents connect with one another and grow their community pride.

Inclusive, fun and eco-friendly by design, STAR Center reflects the interests and values of the hundreds

of citizens who advocated for and participated in the

design development for this unique community asset.

Accessibility was of particular importance because the

center also is the home base for Metro Parks’ Adaptive

Recreation Program which serves both Warriors in

Transition, from nearby Joint Base Lewis-McCord and

other Tacoma residents with physical disabilities. The

spacious facility is fully accessible by wheelchair,

including the fitness center, which has equipment to

serve most abilities.

STAR Center has been open for 10 months now and

has been well received by people both in the

immediate community and also in the greater Tacoma

area. The facility has seen usage more than triple from

that of the former South Park Community Center.

We are thrilled to see the community’s response to

their new facility, and look forward to seeing how it

will help move South Tacoma forward in the future.

Hear for yourself what the center’s users had to say in

this brief overview video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeMO9btL0BE

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Site plans