San Diego breaks ground on $5 million senior center

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer has broken ground on the long-awaited Bay Terraces Senior Center in southeastern San Diego.

Neighborhood residents have been pushing for the new senior center – also known as the Tooma Street Senior Center – for more than a decade.

The 3,400-sq.-ft. facility will include a multi-purpose room, commercial kitchen, office, restrooms and site work to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards. It will serve seniors and residents in the neighborhoods of Paradise Hills, Bay Terraces and Skyline.

Located in Bay Terraces Community Park, the new senior center is designed to be the City’s first Zero Net Energy building. Solar panels on the roof will produce as much energy as the building consumes.

Most of the funding for the project comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant Program.

The Bay Terraces Senior Center is scheduled to be completed in October 2020.