Ethel McLeod Hart Senior Center, 915 27th St, Sacramento, CA
Opened in 1961 and designed by Herbert Goodpastor, A.I.A, the Ethel Hart Senior Citizen’s Center located in Marshall Park “symbolize[d] the hopes and dreams of our senior citizens, City Government and a great number of citizens dedicated to the welfare and recreation of our elder population.”
The design was featured in Architectural Record in December of 1962. The “Social Center in a City Park” building was “designed in the round to be viewed from all directions in its block-square park.” It featured a large arc shaped club room that could be divided or expanded into larger or smaller rooms with a massive fieldstone fireplace at one end.
Finishes of stone and vertical fir siding were used both inside and out, with porcelain paneled facias. The central core of the building was a planted court open to the sky viewable thorough the safety glass corridor that surrounded it. There were two doors on either end of the court which one could traverse through upon large circular concrete pavers.
Starting in 1990, and later, the Center was expanded and remodeled removing the center atrium and iconic fireplace, as well as painting and modifying a great many of the surfaces inside and out. However, the building remains a fine example of Mid-Century Modern Architecture and the City of Sacramento is now requesting proposals to restore some interior elements of the original building including:
- Interior paint color
- Interior and exterior signage
- Lobby and common space furnishings
- Carpet
- Decorative accessories
- Recommendations for additional enhancements to reach project goal
Design professionals interested in consulting on this project should contact :
Rosanne Bernardy
Superintendent for Older Adult Services
RBernardy@cityofsacramento.org
The City is currently accepting proposals until the end of the month, February 2017.
For your reference, here is a collection of vintage materials, as well as some photos that we took recently :
