By Karen Chan

Last week, a small team* from our San Francisco office attended the grand opening of the newly remodeled Orchard City Banquet Hall on the Campbell Community Center campus. Once a mid-century high school cafeteria in Campbell, Calif., the building now houses a simple and elegant multi-purpose venue that will serve as a gathering place for the community.

The approximately 12,000-SF facility features a large-volume main banquet hall and warming kitchen complimented by a new lobby addition for pre/post function gathering, an operable partition in the main hall to support flexible use and scheduling, and a permanent stage. Day-to-day, the facility will be used to support the Community Center’s senior lunch program and a variety of classes offered by the City’s Recreation Department. The facility is also available to rent for parties (wedding receptions, quinceañeras, anniversaries, etc.) and company conferences.

The Grand Opening event was attended by local dignitaries and honored the hard work of everyone involved on the project with the “it takes a village” message. With a relatively small budget and seemingly basic scope, the completed project has made a mighty impact on the Community Center campus.

*Beverly Prior, Principal-in-Charge; Byron Bronston, Lead Designer; Karen Chan, Project Manager; and Justin Mikecz, Job Captain