Though a structural assessment of Father Manuel Roman Community Center was done in October, residents are just now learning what it found.
Villa Coronado Neighborhood Association president Olga Martinez stands on the south side of the gym at the Father Roman Community Center. Behind her, damage can be seen on the outside of the building.A city-commissioned structural assessment revealed soil expansion caused the closure of the Father Manuel Roman Community Center on San Antonio’s far South Side — and whether the city chooses to fix the center or build a new one, the price tag will be north of $3 million.
Foundation and wall movement led to uneven floor elevation, creating “severely twisted” struts on the concrete wall panels bracing the 40-year-old building, and columns that separated from the floors. “As frustrated as this community is, we don’t have any answers as well and we feel just as frustrated,” Reena Gonzalez, executive assistant and liaison in the Parks and Recreation Department, said at a March 6 Villa Coronado Neighborhood Association meeting in response to community members who said they felt the center wasn’t a priority to the city.
The 2009 work included pouring concrete over the existing foundation slab to lessen the slope of the floor on the north side of the gym and in the activity room, according to the report. It also included resealing joints between concrete walls and repairing cracked and degraded concrete inside the wall panels.
Damage is shown on the southwest corner of the gym. Above this corner, a long vertical crack is visible along the upper and outer edge of the building’s wall.“A lot of us who grew up with him do what we do and give back to our community, we serve our community because of the inspiration that he gave us,” said Candi Diaz, president of local nonprofit A Hidden Heart that operates from the resource center at Villa Coronado Park.The damage detailed in the assessment was news to the community.
“I don’t know how they would do this, but it would take forever to get another building,” she said. “There’s no renovation that probably can be done to this building.”
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