Hundreds attend the grand opening of the Belle Haven Community Campus

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On Saturday, May 18, Menlo Park city officials marked the grand opening of the new Belle Haven Community Campus with a ribbon cutting ceremony, tours of the new campus, food trucks and music. Hundreds of people from around the Peninsula attended the event. About a dozen protesters, who objected to the new name of the building, also attended.

“It is a remarkable achievement, and a testament to our dedication, our leadership and our care for our community,” said Menlo Park Mayor Cecilia Taylor in a speech before the ribbon cutting ceremony. “The goal of this project was to unify all ages, and provide space for us all to learn, build and be a part of our collective community.”

Konstance Kirkendoll, a teacher at the nearby Beechwood School, told the gathered onlookers how much this new community campus means for her students. 

“I just wanted to express my excitement for what my students will be able to continue to do at this facility, whether that’s going and learning valuable lessons in the pool, getting some more education in the library, interacting with the senior citizens here. It’s a very exciting opportunity that’s going to continue,” she said.

The new 37,000 square foot campus located at 100 Terminal Ave. houses the Belle Haven Library, the Belle Haven pool, the Belle Haven Youth Center, the Menlo Park Senior Center and the Onetta Harris Community Center. The interior of the building features a fitness center, a public gymnasium featuring basketball hoops, a dance and movement studio, a makerspace, a community event hall, a kitchen and indoor/outdoor gathering spaces. The parking lot also features multiple solar-powered electric car charging stations. 

“Having a space for the community, especially during the summer, is extremely important,” said Taylor. “We had the groundbreaking in November of 2021, so if you think about it it’s been less than three years to actually make this space available. So I am excited, I am very excited. And very, very grateful for the amount of people that turned out to see what’s here to offer to the community.”

There will be multiple camps and summer activities available at the new campus, including gymnastics classes, youth tennis, youth piano classes, arts and crafts camps, Camp MENLO summer camp, performing arts and dance camps, sports camps and more. There will also be plenty of activities for adults, including dance classes, fitness classes, martial arts classes and more.

You can view a full list of spring/summer activities at the Belle Haven Community Campus on Menlo Park’s website. 

Protesters also attend

The grand opening of the event was also attended by approximately a dozen protesters who objected to the new name of the building. The original community center at 100 Terminal Ave. was named for late Belle Haven resident and community activist Onetta Harris. The Menlo Park City Council unanimously voted to name the community center after her in 1983, following her death in 1982. 

The council ultimately voted to name the new campus after the neighborhood, and instead name one of the programs housed within it, the Onetta Harris Community Center, after the late activist.

The Onetta Harris Community Center encompasses a number of spaces on the campus, including the “Movement” studio and “Flex Classroom,” which host fitness and learning programs there, respectively, as well as the gym and other rooms.

“We feel that having done all that (for the community), she should be highlighted, promoted. We just want Onetta’s name to be recognized, as a pioneer, as a cornerstone of the community,” said Ken Harris, Onetta Harris’ son. “We appreciate the project, we appreciate the city of Menlo Park, but we just don’t want our history to be erased, Onetta’s history to be erased.”

There is a plaque dedicated to Onetta Harris inside the new campus, but Ken Harris says that his family was never consulted about the plaque, and that a plaque isn’t enough to acknowledge her contributions to the community.

“I think they should improve the signage, I think that they should give Onetta a little more recognition inside the building — the way her name is displayed, I think that a statue or a bust or a picture would be good,” said Harris.

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