Community

Planned Santa Maria Japanese Community Center receives $500,000 in government funding, groundbreaking set for next week

By Dave Alley

Published August 15, 2023 11:49 am

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – The long-planned Santa Maria Japanese Community Center is moving closer towards completion after receiving $500,000 in government funding, which helps pave the way for official groundbreaking in the near future.

Congressman Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) presented a $500,000 check to city leaders and members of the Japanese Community Center non-profit organization during an appearance at the site of the project on Tuesday afternoon.

"I think the Santa Maria Japanese Community Center is very excited that we're at this stage of development and I think we have a great future for this building and for this community," said Santa Maria Japanese Community Center member Dale Hiramatsu. "It took a lot of cooperation and teamwork between the different organizations to make this thing come to fruition."

The funding was requested and secured by Carbajal last year from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which was part of an overall amount of $16,651,540 in direct federal funding that is slated to help a variety of community projects in Santa Barbara County.

"I'm proud to have been able to half a million dollars towards to a much-broader project that is happening here for the Santa Maria Japanese Community Center," said Carbajal. "It is going to bring life to this project, life to this center. It's going to celebrate the contributions of the Japanese-Americans contributions to our country and here in Santa Maria and the Central Coast, and I'm just proud a part of this overall celebration and groundbreaking of this extraordinary project for the community,"

The federal funding will go towards the overall cost of the project, which is estimated to be $6.5 million.

The Japanese Community Community Center will be a 10,000 square foot event center designed to hold community events, cultural and social gatherings, as well preserve and educate both residents and visitors on the pioneering history of the Japanese in the Santa Maria Valley, particularly the contributions of the Issei, the first generation immigrants. The Issei played a significant role in establishing the agricultural history in the Santa Maria Valley.

"We'd like to consider this building like a memorial for our ancestors, the first-generation Issei Japanese that were in this valley many years ago in the early 1900's," said Hiramatsu. "We plan on having display units in the lobby area of the new building and also like video displays also."

According to the City of Santa Maria, an official groundbreaking is set to take place sometime next week.

The new center will be build next to the historic Smith-Enos House, located across the street from Costco, in between S. Bradley Road and S. College Drive.

The overall project also includes the complete renovation of the Smith-Enos House, which will also serve as a new community gathering place.

"It's just going to be a huge addition with parks that we have here in the community, and we'll see people out here using it, said Santa Maria Mayor Alice Patino. "We'll see families and children out here using it. It's such a wide-open space. It's going to be great."

Construction on the cultural center building to last for several more months, with a target to complete the project sometime early 2025.