The Hayward Area Recreation and Park District (HARD) hosted a ribbon-cutting and grand reopening ceremony Friday afternoon for the newly renovated San Lorenzo Community Center at San Lorenzo Community Park. The center is part of the third and final phase of the park’s multiyear renovation plan, which began in 2017. The center is expected to serve as a central hub for San Lorenzo, hosting programs and classes through HARD while also offering rentable spaces such as multipurpose rooms, a fitness room, and a kitchen and main hall overlooking the park’s duck pond.

Rick Hatcher, vice president of HARD’s Board of Directors, thanked San Lorenzo community members for their support and emphasized the importance of leadership and collaboration in completing the project.   

“What we are is more than slides and swings. We are public safety, we are education, we are mental health. We are human decency and what we need in this community nowadays,” Hatcher said. “This park and this time is extremely special to me.”