San Mateo Japanese American cultural center to be razed for mixed-use development
SAN MATEO -- New development often plays a big role in helping revitalize downtown areas. But with it comes change, which doesn't always come easy.
Wesley Taoka will soon walk out the door of the San Mateo Japanese American Community Center (SMJACC) and will lock the gate, for the final time.
The SMJACC, located at 415 S. Claremont St., is on a block that will be demolished to make way for the proposed "Block 20" mixed-use development, one of the latest projects to redevelop downtown San Mateo.
"Anybody will have concerns about any change," Taoka said.
Over the last 50 years, people like Taoka have found comfort in community at the SMJACC.
"For me, it's a way I can still connect with the Japanese American community, but it's also a way of paying back," Taoka said. "I grew up in the community here in San Mateo, I went to school here, so it's a way of paying back to the community."
Rick Bonilla, the Mayor of San Mateo, says the city must move forward with new development to bring much-needed housing options, parking, jobs, and more business to the area.
"If we don't evolve and become the place of the future, we're going to be left behind," he said. "We have so many amenities right here that this has become the core of where new development can really make a difference."
However, Bonilla says the future of San Mateo should also include a new home for the historic SMJACC.
"It's definitely one of my priorities that the Japanese American Cultural Center is able to stay here in San Mateo, which is their historic home," he said.
Though this chapter of the center's history is coming to a close, a new one will begin. Taoka says the project's developer, Windy Hill, is helping them find a new home.
"They've hired a real estate broker to help, and we meet once a month," he said.
Taoka says the members are hoping the new home will be nearby the original location, for both practical and symbolic reasons.
"We have people who live in the north part in South San Francisco, or in Redwood City, further south, so they won't have to travel as far," he said. "It was the San Mateo Gardener's Association that donated the property to the community, so we want to maintain that heritage."
Taoka, a long-time San Mateo resident, understands the need for new development.
"Affordable housing is needed all over the place," he said. "As San Mateo revitalizes its downtown, we'll be able to revitalize our center."
Though change isn't easy, Taoka says it can be useful. He thinks this change will be good in the long run.
"We'll revitalize the center and welcome new people, and perhaps, a bigger presence than what we have now," he said. "We hope that the community will support us and continue - and other people will become more aware of what we have to offer."
