The passing of the community hat continues in Portola Valley in a “final fundraising drive” for the $20 million project to build a new library, Town Hall and community hall and redo several recreational facilities.
This latest fundraising push got a kick-start Sept. 12 with an anonymous $500,000 dollar-for-dollar matching grant that runs until Dec. 15, according to a statement from the Portola Valley Community Fund. Gifts may be of any size and may be earmarked for any part of the project.
The new complex is tentatively set to open in late 2008. The environmentally green elements of the buildings and grounds are expected to win a high, and possibly the highest, classification for environmentally conscious design.
With the town aligned along the infamous San Andreas fault, the new Town Hall will also house an earthquake-resistant emergency operations center.
The fundraising has attracted about $17.5 million in tax-deductible gifts since early 2004, the great majority from Portola Valley residents, said Community Fund co-chair SallyAnn Reiss. The fund’s Web site lists 355 donors, up from 335 in April and including 86 of $5,000 or more and five of at least $1 million. The 2000 census lists about 1,770 families in Portola Valley.
Adding to, but separate from, the overall cost of the new complex is a Sept. 12 decision by the Town Council that is likely to lead to the spending of an additional $1 million to open up — or daylight — about 280 feet of Sausal Creek.
Finding the money to pay for the creek element will be a separate fundraising effort.
For decades, the seasonal creek has been buried in a culvert. In deciding to open up part of the creek, the council also directed the project architects to cap the existing culvert and keep it underground as storage for rainwater runoff.
INFORMATION
To make a donation to the Town Center fund, go to www.pvtowncenter.com or contact Community Fund volunteers Beth Rabuczewski at 529-9541 or Ms. Reiss at 529-0829. Send e-mail to pvcommunityfund@sbcglobal.net. Checks may be sent to SVCF/For the Benefit of the Portola Valley Community Fund, 4540 Alpine Road, Portola Valley CA 94028.
