County and nonprofit officials Thursday broke ground on a $15-million community resource center in Ramona.
The center is intended to serve as a one-stop shop for residents who need public and behavioral health, child welfare and services like CalFresh, Medi-Cal and CalWORKs.
The facility, to be built on the corner of 12th and Main streets next to the Ramona branch library, will serve 5,000 residents, according to a county statement. It will replace one that had been in operation for 35 years.
The building will be the latest addition to the Ramona Intergenerational Community Campus. A 100-unit senior affordable housing complex is expected to break ground on the campus in late 2025.
According to county records, the concept for the resource center originated in 1999. The San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved the purchase of land from Caltrans in 2017. The county awarded a design-build contract to Nielsen Construction last year.
The new facility is “designed to reflect the community and its residents and includes public art,” the statement reads.
Additionally, the center will be built to meet LEED Gold standards – a measure of architectural sustainability – and is intended to be zero-net energy, meaning it will generate more energy from the solar panels on its roof than it consumes when measured over a year’s time.
The center is expected to open its doors late next year.
– City News Service
