The new 22,200+ square foot facility will replace the 7,476 square foot building and will provide the community with:

• Larger gymnasium for basketball, volleyball and other indoor sports

• Flexible multi-purpose rooms for after school and summer programs, cultural arts, teen and adult programming, community meetings, and senior programs

• Roof deck and ground-level children's courtyard

• Indoor / outdoor community stage

• Open lobby for socializing and gallery space

• Modern kitchen

• Expanded resilience programming strengthening the community’s ability to respond to local disasters and emergencies

• Solar panels and battery storage to aid the community in when the power is out

• Energy efficient HVAC system that will provide air filtration, cooling, and heating

• Increased greenspace, featuring new shade trees and drought-tolerant landscaping to advance sustainable water management goals

• New basketball and multi-sport courts

• New outdoors seating

• Public Art and donor recognition installation

The Lincoln Square Park Rec Center is a top priority for the community and the City of Oakland because:

1. The community needs a bigger center that better serves the neighborhood and City. The current center is outdated and too small and cannot meet the demands for park programming. There is no air filtration, heat or air-conditioning making it ill-suited to serve as a respite during extreme smoke and weather. The after school program and summer camp consistently has a waitlist and seniors compete with teens and youth for space in the small center.

2. There is broad community support, led by Friends of Lincoln Square and APEN. In addition, many community organizations and leaders have endorsed the project and are supporting efforts to advance the project.

3. The project supports multiple City goals as laid out in the:

   • 1996 Open Space, Conservation and Recreation (OSCAR) Element

   • 2014 Lake Merritt Station Area Plan

   • Current and past Capital Improvement Program plans

   • 2020 Equitable Climate Action Plan

   • Measure U staff reports

4. This project high impact and is an model for other parks and rec centers. This park is the most activated and used rec center in the City. The park serves over 1,000 people a day of all ages and races. It serves much more than Chinatown. Youth, students, seniors and families from all over the City and beyond visit the park 7 days a week, from dawn to dusk, and basket ball players use the courts at night. The park is the only staffed park facility downtown and a trusted and safe public where visitors feel seen and welcomed.

5. Lincoln Park is an important part of the local economy and City budget, bringing people downtown to shop and dine, and generating fee income from their popular after-school and summer programs. A bigger center will have a bigger economic impact.

6. The Community has waited long enough. Talks of improving the center date back to 1996, and while other centers across the City have been built, rebuilt and updated, The Lincoln Rec Center has not been expanded and has now been recommended for full replacement after a thorough vetting and equitable prioritization process.

The latest updates from City staff is that the a contractor will be selected and construction will begin in the first half of 2025! We will let you know when the City Council votes to award the contract and we will certainly invite you to our much anticipated groundbreaking and community celebration.

While Friends of Lincoln Square Park is working hard to advance this project, it is ultimately the City of Oakland that determines when construction will actually start.

Big ambitious projects take time to come together. Indeed, it feels like we have been waiting for and talking about a new rec center forever. Yes the City has been planning for expansion since 1996, but the truth is, we’ve never been closer and the wait is almost over.

The stars have aligned and we are more hopeful than ever that 2025 is the year we will break ground! We’re not giving up on our community vision, and you shouldn’t either.

Keep in touch with us to get the latest park updates and invite to our community ground-breaking celebration!

Yes! Donations can be made anytime online or by check. All donations to our capital campaign will support the new rec center project, and the programming and infrastructure needed to ensure successful center programming once opened.

Our primary focus for fundraising is to support the successful building, opening and operations of the center for generations to come.

Your funding will support the new center, specifically:

• Story banking and community art projects at the park

• Community resilience programs

• Community celebrations like our ground breaking, ribbon cutting and Lincoln Summer Nights series

• Cultural and historical information panels sharing the history of the park

In addition, funds raised will be included in our new Lincoln Square Legacy Fund which seeks to raise 2 million dollars to support the center and ongoing programming for generations to come.

Please contact us if you have any questions or special requests for your donation.

We are the one community organization dedicated to building a new rec center at Lincoln Square Park and supporting park programming.

Since 2016, Friends of Lincoln Square Park has led the community outreach, planning, advocacy and fundraising for a new center to better meet the needs of local residents. In addition to hosting the beloved Lincoln Summer Nights series, we have pursued and supported multiple successful funding applications, in partnership with the City to ensure enough funds are raised to build our new center.

We work closely with the Oakland Parks and Recreation Department, City of Oakland Public Works, Oakland’s Sustainability & Resilience Division, and the Office of Emergency Services to make sure community concerns are front and center when planning for the construction and developing programs for the park that meet the needs of the diverse community.

2025 will be another full year as we:

• Formerly launch our donor recognition opportunities, raising funds for our campaign goals

• Continue our popular Lincoln Summer Nights series, drawing in hundreds of people on the second Thursday of the month, from May through October

• Planning and co-hosting our Groundbreaking with the City

• Continue to meet with City staff to ensure the timely completion of the project with minimal disruption and delays for the community

• Advance community resiliency planning with APEN and the City’s Office of Community Resilience

If you think parks are only for recreation, think again!

The new recreation center will also be Oakland’s first Resilience Center. Friends of Lincoln Square Park and the City of Oakland are working closely with the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN), who is leading the resilience program planning for the new center. APEN has been a statewide leader in advocating for community resiliency centers.

While a new term, the programs at the park have always been building community resiliency. For generations, the center has been a safe haven for strengthening connections, skilling up, accessing trusted information and seeking resources and support during good times and bad.

By making sure our new rec center is also a community resilience center, the community will be better able to respond to everyday stressors, and more emergencies.

We are intentionally expanding programing at the park to include disaster preparedness, emergency response, and climate resilience features. And we are building in resilience features into the building design.

Contact us today!

We are a volunteer-led group that has been meeting since 2016 and we can use all the help we can get! We are currently seeking advisors who know a little something about:

• Capital Campaigns and donor relations

• Business Planning

• Community Art Projects

• Social Media strategy

• Publicity and News Media

If you have talents and time to share, it’s likely we can use your help so please do not hesitate to reach out.

As featured by Oaklandside, Poinciana Hung-Haas was an Oakland high schooler when she designed the Dragon Power shirt and partnered with local retailer, Oaklandish to sell to the public. She grew up at Lincoln Square Park and is now giving back her time and her talents.

A portion of each sale supports our campaign for a new rec center.

Buy a T-shirt or hoodie now or read more about the Oaklandish Dragon Power Campaign

Absolutely and we are so grateful for your support!

All donations are deductible to the fullest extent of the law thanks to our fiscal sponsorship with the Wa Sung Community Service Club.

Please see our Donate page to learn more make a donation.