After more than a decade of planning and fundraising, construction began this summer on a major transformation of a recreation center at the heart of Oakland’s Chinatown.
The new Lincoln Square Recreation Center will replace a 7,500-square-foot recreation center built in the 1970s with a modern building about three times that size.
It will also be equipped to be the city’s first resiliency hub during emergencies, with a range of equipment and amenities that can provide power, clean air and other critical services.
The project will also bring more trees and other features to the adjacent Lincoln Square Park.
Planning for the project was led by the nonprofit organizations Friends of Lincoln Square Park and Asian Pacific Environmental Network, known as APEN, starting in the early 2010s, according to the city.
Design work formally began once funding became available in 2019. The organizations and the city’s Department of Parks, Recreation & Youth Development applied for state and federal grants in the early 2020s to help make the project a reality.
Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee celebrated the project at a groundbreaking ceremony in late July, along with other elected leaders and Chinatown advocates.
“The new Lincoln Recreation Center will be a place for our youth to learn, families to gather, older adults to stay active and neighbors to find support during times of need,” Lee said in a statement.
The two-story recreation center will have community gathering spaces, multipurpose classrooms, a gymnasium, offices and a rooftop garden, according to a statement from the city of Oakland.
A resiliency hub serves local needs as they arise and during emergencies, including providing shelter during wildfires and other evacuation events, according to the city.
The Lincoln Square Recreation Center will be equipped with solar panels and battery storage to provide off-grid electricity, including during potential outages. It will also have an advanced HVAC system that can provide filtered air during a wildfire, as well as refrigeration for medicine that needs to stay cold, among other features.
The contractors for the project are Oakland-based Shah Kawasaki Architects and San Mateo-based Amoroso Construction.
Construction is expected to be completed in summer 2028.
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