Marin wildlife center expansion plan passes design review
The proposal for a new WildCare headquarters is headed to the San Rafael Planning Commission after securing the support of the city's Design Review Board.
A plan to renovate the WildCare wildlife hospital and education center in San Rafael has cleared a key procedural hurdle.
The city’s Design Review Board voted 4-0 on Tuesday to recommend the project at 76 Albert Park Lane for approval. Board members Sharon Kovalsky and Stewart Summers were absent.
“I think it looks phenomenal,” board member Michael Alexin said at the board meeting. “I mean, you did an amazing job with what you had to work with in the site. It’s pretty impressive.”
The WildCare headquarters is a 4,100-square-foot center on a 0.36-acre site across from Albert Park. The property is accessed by a footbridge that crosses the San Rafael Creek.
The nonprofit unveiled its new plan in December, four years after pulling the plug on a long-planned multimillion-dollar relocation.
Previously, the organization hoped to move to a 4.5-acre site in northern San Rafael. Initial estimates projected the relocation would cost roughly $8 million, but when contractors bid on the project in 2018, the lowest bid was for more than $20 million, making the project unfeasible at that time, directors said.
Plans were suspended amid financial strains that forced several layoffs and reductions in staff hours. The organization ended a capital campaign that had raised roughly $8 million for a new center.
WildCare proposes to demolish all the buildings except the historic Terwilliger building, named after the Marin environmentalist Elizabeth Terwilliger. The structure was built as a parish hall for St. John’s Church in 1879 in carpenter-gothic style architecture.
The plan includes moving that structure toward the front of the property, then building a three-level, modern center behind it as a backdrop. Each level would be tiered to reduce the visual impact of height.
The first floor would include the lobby, education rooms, administrative offices and some hospital functions. Animals will also reside on the ground floor. The second and third floors will be reserved for outdoor cages where recovering animals can rehabilitate before being released. A screening will wrap around the cages to shield the animals from public view.
The new center would be approximately 11,400 square feet, including 4,600 square feet of caging on roofs and 1,600 square feet of caging on the ground floor.
Cheryl Lentini, the project architect, said there have been a few modifications since the last presentation. Those include adjusting fencing, making accessible entries and planning for battery backup rather than a diesel generator.
Board member Jeff Kent said that considering the site constraints — such as the small size, a creek running through the front yard and the fact that it’s in a flood zone — “I’m pretty impressed that you actually were able to solve this riddle at all.”
“I think it’s a pretty amazing project for what you had to deal with and I can support it as submitted,” Kent said.
“I guess I was ready to approve the project at the last meeting, so I’m sorry that we held you over for another two months,” board member Donald Blayney said.
The proposal is headed to the Planning Commission for review.
Ellyn Weisel, WildCare’s executive director, said she’s looking forward to the next meeting.
“After nearly half a century of repurposing, repairing and remodeling the physical structures that are essential to our operations, WildCare needs a new facility to continue operations and further realize our mission as a world-class wildlife medicine teaching hospital, wildlife advocacy organization and environmental education center,” Weisel said. “The strong community support for this project has really been heartening to our staff and volunteers.”
The nonprofit has launched a $20 million capital improvements campaign to support its project.
More information is at discoverwildcare.org/elevate.