Original completion date was March 2024; now hall looks to open with reservation system in January
With construction on rebuilding the Cayucos Vets Hall winding down, County Parks is ramping up for its eventual reopening and their takeover of the booking and management of the popular public event center.
County Parks & Recreation Director Tanya Richardson called a public meeting Nov. 6 to discuss the Vets Hall’s future management with a small group of citizens, going over the history of the project, which started in 2015, when a routine inspection found serious problems with the circa-1870s former shipping warehouse’s foundation.
Essentially, the floor beneath the hall’s stage had rotted out and sunken in, and further inspections by structural engineers found the roof and walls were no longer properly connected. The Vets Hall was indefinitely closed to the public in 2016.
From there, the rehabilitation-rebuilding project was launched and has continued through several problematic issues, such as money.
Richardson explained that their initial project was estimated at $5.4 million and they soon got a $1.9 million grant, but that left the county $3.5 million short. Then the bids came in, and $3.5 million was itself short.
The bids came back much higher, she explained, over $11 million. They went hunting for more grants, and a citizen’s committee was also formed to help raise the needed money.
“We had a funding gap of $3.5 million,” Richardson said.
The county eventually turned to bond financing in fall 2022 to bridge the funding gap. The Vets Hall, along with the co-dispatch center being built now in Templeton and the new Probation Department HQ slated to be built on Johnson Avenue in San Luis Obispo, are the three big projects the county is funding with the bonds. Richardson said the Vets Hall’s share of the debt — including the annual estimated operating costs — will be about $254,000 a year for 25 years. County Parks is responsible for repaying this debt and the decision was made to have the department handle the booking and maintenance of the Vets Hall, making use of whatever community groups or residents can add through volunteerism.
“County Parks will operate the Vets Hall at 100 percent cost recovery,” she explained.
To facilitate this, the County is working up an amendment to the master fee schedule that will set the rates for renting part or all of the new Vets Hall.
“They will be higher rates,” she said, “for much improved facilities.” A consultant is working up the numbers for the new rates, she added. Those new rates should go before the SLO County Board of Supervisors for approval in December or possibly January, but in time for the reopening.
Richardson said they are looking at a graduated fee schedule, tied in with how much of the building the person or group wants to reserve and for how long. The new Vets Hall will be more segmented, with a main hall and kitchen and a couple of separate meeting rooms available. The Cayucos Art Association Gallery will have a space as well.
There will be an hourly rate, Richardson said, with a two-hour minimum up to seven hours. This would give people time to get ready for whatever event is planned, and time afterwards for cleanup.
“The longer you rent it for,” she said, “the less expensive it would be” on an hourly basis. At 12 hours, “you have the whole day.”
They will also have different rates for private use vs. public use, like for public meetings. There will also not be a new stage put in.
They plan to make use of the new online reservation system the department is putting into place for all of its facilities — from campgrounds to picnic areas and facilities like the Vets Hall. They will market the Vets Hall along with the online “regional marketing” the new reservation system will set up.
They plan to post photos of the finished Vets Hall online, just as one might look at photos of a motel or resort before booking a stay.
“We don’t think we’ll have a problem renting it out,” Richardson said.
She noted the efforts of the Friends of the Cayucos Vets Hall, the group of citizens that have been raising money for both the construction costs and to help pay for the furnishings — tables, chairs, tablecloths, kitchen equipment, etc. The Friends group is also working with the county on the new fee schedule, Richardson said.
They are looking into ways to involve the community in the Vets Hall’s maintenance, some sort of labor-trade or “stewardship” agreement, wherein a community group can volunteer to pitch in with cleanup and maintenance as a trade-off for important events in the community, like the 4th of July, when a barbecue and bingo is traditionally held at the Vets Hall and for the Polar Bear Dip on New Year’s Day.
With the 4th of July, Richardson said, it’s an all day event and they need the full Vets Hall for July 3 and 4.
They plan to offer the hall on those days at 48 percent cost recovery, so with a 52 percent discount. Also, the Cayucos Sanitary District and Citizens Advisory Council, both public entities, used the Vets Hall for their public meetings, and some kind of arrangement would be made for that the return.
These “stewards” she said, would work with the people and groups that rent the hall overseeing setups and teardowns and making sure it all goes smoothly. Having volunteers essentially “on call” doing this work will cut down the county’s maintenance expenses. She said it could mean the county doesn’t have to add maintenance workers, who make $33.50 an hour. “It’s not a transfer of money,” she explained, “but a trade-off of labor.”
They hope to have community groups “adopt” all or parts of the Vets Hall, much the way groups and individuals “adopt” a highway. One potential group is the Central Coast Woodcarvers, who used to hold shows at the Vets Hall, but had to move to Cambria when it closed for repairs. They are also looking to contract out the cleaning, which will have some rather odd hours.
Still to be decided is whether volunteers would be covered under the county’s liability insurance. Hours will be connected to the county’s noise ordinance.
“Initially,” Richardson said, “we’re looking at 10 p.m. to stop the music.”
She said when the job is done, the Vets Hall will be among the nicest facilities in the whole county, with a setting at the beach and pier unmatched by any other — public or private.
So when is the county going to start taking reservations? Richardson said they don’t have a target date yet.
“We want a ‘certificate of occupancy’ in hand” she said. “I would hate to have to call off someone’s wedding.”
District 2 Supervisor Bruce Gibson, who was at the Nov. 6 meeting, said the contractor “is way behind” schedule. The contractor, JG Contracting of Nipomo, had some setbacks last winter when a storm damaged the unfinished roof and set them back months.
The original target completion date was March 2024, now it looks like the hall won’t be done until sometime in December, but Richardson said they are looking to reopen and start the new reservation system in January.
Studio Design Group is the contracted architect and designers on the job. As a historic structure, the idea was to return the Vets Hall to what it looked like in the 1800s when it was built by Capt. James Cass as the central warehouse of an import-export business he ran in Cayucos, shipping out farm products like milk, butter and cheese via steamships plying the Pacific Coast. Cass built the pier and warehouse, as well as the Victorian mansion — the Cass House — across Ocean Avenue from the Vets Hall. The finished Vets Hall will look much as it did in Cass’ day.
When it’s all said and done, Richardson said, “This is going to be the event center on the Central Coast.”
The Public Works Department has a special webpage for the Vets Hall Restoration Project, visit slocounty.ca.gov/departments/public-works/current-public-works-projects/cayucos-vets-hall-restoration, with lots of photos of the construction, explanations of the project and a cool drone video flying high above the construction site.
Feature Image: Construction is winding down on the rebuilding of the Cayucos Vets Hall. Photo by Neil Farrell
