Opening Remarks from Gilbert Gong, Center Director,​to the Project Advisory Committee

​Good Evening Everyone,
On the eve of a new plan for Lincoln Square, I wanted to share a few words...

Over 50 years ago, I grew up on the Lincoln Square Playground before there was a community center.
Over 40 years ago, I was invited to volunteer, and coach the Lincoln Square Youth Volleyball Program.
Over 30 years ago I began my professional recreation career with 8+ different Bay Area Municipalities.
Over 25 years ago, I was recruited to my dream job of community programming, where I grew up.

In the past 25 years, we have been able to grow Lincoln Square into one of the most thriving park communities in Oakland. Pre-covid, through a solid network of community partnerships, Lincoln Square not only served children and youth, but the entire community.

Upon my arrival, I used the first six months to assess existing community needs and resources. I volunteered to represent the then titled, Oakland Parks and Recreation Department, at the City Administrator’s Oakland Citizens Academy Program (OCAP), which for the very first time, was being held in Cantonese.
OCAP offered the citizens of Oakland, a multi-week opportunity to hear from department representatives, about the services of each department. That opportunity to share my vision of what Lincoln Square could eventually become, was the beginning of a new era in community programming at Lincoln Square.

Through expressing my need for volunteers to lead and teach activities such as Tai Chi, Dancing, Table Tennis, and Chinese Orchestra, those OCAP alumni formed the Cantonese Speaking Citizens Academy Alumni Association, and have been the driving force in identifying partners and volunteers in the community. OCAP Alumni represented numerous local organizations such as the Chinese American Citizens Alliance (promoting civil service), Wa Sung Community Service Club, Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, Churches and family associations.

Throughout the years, we continued to foster additional relationships with local schools, youth development programs, youth sports teams, and community-based organizations such as Asian Health Services, the Oakland Chinatown Coalition and many more, which allowed us to be even more inclusive of the community. Along with these institutional partners, I enjoyed taking the time to personally talk with individual park participants about their needs and observations.

I value hearing from the local seniors living by themselves, cross-town teenagers not wanting to return to their own neighborhoods, parents seeking enrichment that they could not provide for their children, and even the needs of our under-housed. I did what I could to address their needs here in our community. Our future plans need to include all of these individuals, organizations, and newer partnerships.

As we continue marching towards our plan to build a new community center, I intend to work closely with the Shah Kawasaki Architects Team, to continue my previously established strategies of being fully-inclusive, and assuring that our services, and future facility, are equitably designed and accessible to all.

In five years or less, I hope that through my dream job, and the help of many, we are able to plan, build, and open a world-class facility, that is driven by the investments of our entire community.

With Best Regards,
Gilbert Gong, Center Director
Oakland Parks, Recreation, & Youth Development