The Seattle-based Pomegranate Center has over 30 years of experience working alongside communities to design public gathering spaces. In April, 2018 we pulled together a community meeting for Casino Road residents to let us know what they wanted out of a future Community Hub. We asked them what a Community Hub would look like, feel like, and what people would do there. Over 125 people shared their feedback, generating 50 ideas.
Three days later, designers from the Pomegranate Center and our architects met for two all-day design workshops in which those 50 ideas collected at the community meeting were boiled down to themes and values and then interpreted into a conceptual design. Some common themes and activities that surfaced included:
- A hub for empowerment (education, training, capacity building, etc.)
- A social hub (space to hang out, drink coffee with a friend, socialize, etc.)
- A resource hub (community navigators, computer lab, housing support, etc.)
- A cultural hub (dance, art, music, cultural celebrations)