Atascadero Kiwanis get permanent building
The Atascadero Kiwanis Club hosted it’s first mixer in Kiwanis Hall at Atascadero Lake Park. Photo courtesy of Lon Allan
– The Atascadero Kiwanis Club recently acquired ownership of the AARP Building, which is located between Charles Paddock Zoo and Atascadero Pavilion on the Lake. With the transfer, the name of the building has changed to Kiwanis Hall.
The building has been home to the Atascadero Association of Retired People for many years and has hosted weekly card games and other daytime activities for local senior citizens. Those activities, Atascadero Kiwanis Club member Lon Allan said, will continue at no charge to the seniors. The building has stood in its current location since 1963.
Atascadero Kiwanis Club President Glen Casey address Atascadero Chamber of Commerce members at it’s mixer last week. Photo courtesy of Lon Allan.
According to the club, the group has been working with the AARP board over the past three years to make the acquisition work with club member Ron Helgerson taking the lead. Kiwanis now has ownership of the building, and all those responsibilities that go with it. The transfer was official as of this month. The transfer was completed for $1 because AARP was allowed to make it to another 501(c)3.
“Managing rentals, maintenance, major repairs, etc. was becoming too much for the small group of Atascadero Association of Retired People,” Atascadero Kiwanis Club President Glen Casey said about why AARP decided to transfer ownership. “Kiwanis was very satisfied with the facility and had been performing maintenance and scheduling rentals for AARP for some time. … It came about because of Ron’s diligence and persistence.”
After Players restaurant in Atascadero closed several years ago, the Kiwanis Club began meeting in the pavilion in 2010 and then moved its meetings to the AARP Building in October 2014.
“With the transfer, there is a reserve that will be maintained through rentals,” Casey said. “Initially, approximately 50-percent of the reserve will go toward building upgrades, title change costs and marketing.”
This building transfer came while the club is observing 100 years of community service from Kiwanis International. The local club has been around for 46 years and meets every Thursday at 7 a.m. in Kiwanis Hall. Earlier this year the 90-member club was named the Atascadero Chamber of Commerce Organization of the Year.
“This is a win, win, win situation,” Casey said.
Kiwanis Hall can be rented for parties, receptions, lectures and more. A two-hour business meeting is $75. Commercial use is $500 for a day and chamber members can rent the hall for $300 per day. To rent the hall, contact the club’s rental coordinator at (805) 610-7229. Membership in Kiwanis is open to all adults 18 and over.
