Groundbreaking ceremony marks start of construction of The Stack Youth & Family Center

The City of Hayward, County of Alameda, Hayward Area Recreation and Park District, and partner agencies held a groundbreaking on Feb. 8 to celebrate the start of the first phase of construction on the new the Stack Youth & Family Center. The Stack Center is the culmination of a decades-long dream to create a neighborhood anchor that will be a cultural center, service hub, and economic catalyst. 

The groundbreaking ceremony honored the legacy of the late County Supervisor Richard Valle, who was the Stack Center’s initial champion and whose office secured $14.5 Million for the construction. It also honored the significant funding contributions of Caltrans, which granted the project $2.647 million through the Governor’s Clean California initiative, Congressman Eric Swalwell and Senator Alex Padilla, who secured $1.5 million in the 2022 federal budget, former Assembly Member Bill Quick, who secured $1 million in the 2022 state budget, and Senator Aisha Wahab, who secured $2.5 million in this year’s state budget.

The Stack Center design is based on years of community-led input, including a youth participatory design cohort to collaboratively create the look and feel of the Center. The first expression of this vision was the completion of two murals in December celebrating recreation and food heritages, one by muralist Jared Gochuico, and the other by muralists David Burke and Pancho Pescador of Hungry Ghost Studios.

The first phase of construction will transform the exiting Matt Jimenez Community Center into an affordable childcare center for infants through preschoolers, install bay friendly landscaping, and create a community event plaza for large outdoor gatherings. Future phases will redevelop the current Eden Youth and Family Center (formerly Tennyson Elementary School) at the corner of Tennyson and Ruus roads.

South Hayward is a dynamic community that is home to some of the most diverse census tracts in the nation. There are more than 50 languages spoken in the mile surrounding the future Stack Center and 60 percent of households speak a language other than English at home. The Stack Center project is a partnership between government agencies and longtime service providers in South Hayward, including La Familia Counseling Services, Eden Youth and Family Center, Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center, Kidango, Alameda County Office of Education, and the Hayward Arts Council.