Clear Lake Community Center

What:

The plan from the Bethel School district is to use a Federal Grant and other funding sources to turn the Clear Lake Elementary School into both a Community Center and a Resiliency Center for upcoming emergencies. They will have space available for Childcare organizations, City Outreach, Food for Lane County, and other organizations that need space for operations. It is also intended that the space be used as a Community Center for people in Bethel to have a safe space to gather.

When:

The School is officially closing down as a school at the end of the school year. (June 12th)

After about a week for the teachers and staff to clear out all of the equipment and supplies, updates to the building are to begin. While the Roof repair and other things are updated, there will be childcare programs running throughout the summer as part of the Preschool Promise Program. The plan is for there to be ongoing progress in changing the structure of the building to be more open and inclusive of community interests.

What comes next:

This project is going to be an independantly run non-profit community organization. As such, we need Bethel Community's input as to what they would like to see. We will be out in the community over the next few months gathering ideas and reaching out to local community groups to see what Bethel can make out of such an amazing opportunity. We will be asking people to answer and submit a short survey regarding this. Please scroll to the bottom of this page for a link to that survey. That will in turn help the Bethel School District better develop the building into what it's future will be. Only with the public's input and support can this truely be a Community Center that brings a better sense of welcoming and belonging to Bethel.