Project background and features
In the heart of Sleepy Hollow, at 1317 Butterfield Road, is our Community Center Clubhouse and Pool. For more than 65 years, these treasured facilities have been the scene of countless events and gatherings that make Sleepy Hollow the friendly, fun-loving place we call home: Chili cook-offs, crab feeds, holiday parties for adults and kids, move nights, parades, cook outs, and more.
The old clubhouse was home to scouts, civic committees and boards, fire safety training and disaster preparedness staging provided by the SHFPD, and was our polling place. At times the building has hummed with exercise classes, children’s team building events and parties. It has also been rented on a space available basis for family celebrations, dinners, dances, classes, etc.
A Community Center is Part of our Charter. Now it is our turn to carry it forward.
The SHHA Articles of Incorporation provided for the construction, care, and improvement of facilities to build community and help our community play and work. Construction of the Sleepy Hollow clubhouse and pool began in 1950 and was completed in 1956, with the generous contributions and volunteer labor by the men, women, and children of Sleepy Hollow. Featured in a Sunset Magazine article of November 1956, the SHHA clubhouse became a model for other Bay Area communities. View the Sunset Magazine article.
The full spirit and cooperation of the homeowners of the 1950’s became the inspiration for the remodeling and renovations of the clubhouse in 1985. By 2013 the clubhouse and its huge beamed hall and grand old fire place had been the keeper of over 60 years of shared laughs and loves, joys and jigs, toils and tributes, and dozens of bins of well-used decorations from celebrations and competitions past.
Almost forty years since the last “reboot,” we once again rallied to the care and improvement of this treasure. Fundraising began in 2013 with the establishment of the Sleepy Hollow Charitable Foundation. In April 2019, after over six years of working toward a complete tear down and rebuild of a new two-story building, we turned to a lower cost, one-story renovation, offering similar benefits and preserving much of the old structure. Designs reviewed June 2019 with the community are posted on this site. By February 2020, we were ready to sign a contract for a complete renovation with a completion goal of February 2021. This would have required substantial additional donations that might not keep pace with increasing costs.
With the onset and economic impact of COVID19 and related slow down in permit processing, neither fundraising nor construction were immediately feasible. we rethought the plan in order to be able to deliver without immediate additional fundraising, a beautiful community center of increased value to current and future Sleepy Hollow families, continuing the traditions of community gatherings, and adding to the activities and events of interest to residents, just in time to celebrate 75 years for Sleepy Hollow in 2021.
With the help of our Architect Fairchild Broms Design, and Contractor Schalich Brothers Construction, we established the Renovation Master Plan, which reduced costs further with modified roofing plans and some self managed finish work, and allowed a Phase 1 that could be built with funds on hand. Our Phase 1 budget included $1.3M cash on hand from Round 1 and Round 2 fundraising and proceeds of a bank mortgage loan, plus $270,000 from community private lenders, and collection of almost $200,000 of outstanding pledges.
The Community Center opened July 4, 2021 just in time for the 75th anniversary of the Sleepy Hollow Homes Association. We began fundraising for Phase 2, including additional $210,000 private lending, to renovate the locker rooms and add new outdoor shower. In February 2022 the Community Center became home to the Sleepy Hollow Fire Protection District and its work on our behalf to reduce the risks of fire, increase our preparedness for a fire or other disasters, equip us with evacuation skills and smart behaviors, and to be a safe haven with emergency power whenever needed. Visit www.shfpd.org for a complete report on their year-round activities.
Additional giving allowed building the Emergency Supplies Storage building with a small site office. SHFPD will store emergency preparedness and disaster recovery equipment and supplies in their space.
In the final stretch of completing the Master plan, the Sleepy Hollow Charitable Foundation is raising additional funds to complete play areas, equip the workout room/gym, include the outdoor fire feature, interior moveable partitions to increase flexibility of use, improved fencing and entry gate with identify and event signage, bike corral, and more.
Tax deductible donations can be to the Sleepy Hollow Charitable Foundation, a 501(c )(3) public charity. Your pledge may be paid in 2020 and up to March 1, 2021.
Read more about the SHCF and how to pledge and donate. Learn more of the history and process of the efforts that have been underway and accomplished since 2011, when repair and rebuild assessments were first made.
Walk through the Community Center with us…
The new Community Center provides a drive-through off Butterfield for safer pick-ups and drop-offs.It features one floor with a gathering room divisible into the Founders Room and Legends Pavilion, and new layout along the north side for fitness, or small class or practice room, new kitchen, new half bath, plus the offices and storage space for the Fire Protection District. The highest point of the roof is the existing Legends Pavilion "pyramid," which is retained. A new main entry opens to both the Founders and Legends Rooms and is inside the security gate. Special entry is also available through the Porch Library.
Xxxx square feet of space is adaptable for many uses and more than one activity, group, or event at one time. The Founders Room, with the grand old fireplace, welcomes neighbors for informal, small get-togethers, space for cards and other games, coffee with friends, and more, and can also be combined with the Legends Pavilion for community get-togethers and events of interest to residents. Either space can be used for board meetings, civic groups or committees, lectures or classes of interest to the community; by the SHFPD for training, classes. Both areas will have ample charging stations, and the Founders Room will have special audio visual equipment.
A library/porch allows conversation, meeting with a client, quiet work away from home, games, or small group meetings. A new, accessible, half bath is entered from the Founders Room through a vestibule. The kitchen will be a “reheat kitchen” equipped with ovens and easy to use by the SHHA and community groups or potential renters. The flexible space may be an exercise/fitness space, or initially a CERT storage space, and is also designed as a sleeping shelter in a disaster. The bathrooms and locker rooms will renovated and new outdoor showers will be installed in Phase 2.
The courtyard features entry to the Legends Pavilion through two La Cantina doors as well as the main entry to both the Founders and Legends rooms. The flex room and the bathrooms are accessible from the courtyard across a covered corridor that also leads to the Legends Room and kitchen. As Phase 2 is completed, there will be an outdoor fireplace, covered dining arbor, and small site office attached to the C.E.R.T. storage building.
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The Center will have emergency back up power and ample device charging capacity and wifi. Imagine yourself comfortable in this haven during power blackouts or intense heat events, as well as just stopping in for visit with friends, or attending an event that interests you. Our new treasure for Sleepy Hollow will open its doors for the spring of 2021. Planned for active use by the community and events of interest to the community, it will also be available for rent on a limited basis. We'll see you there.
Learn more of the history and process of the efforts that have been underway and accomplished since 2011, when repair and rebuild assessments were first made. Visit the Sleepy Hollow Charitable Foundation for project details and how you can help, including pledging and donating.
