Ferndale terminates lease on Kulick Community Center with school district

FERNDALE — The relationship between the city of Ferndale and the Kulick Community Center has come to an end.

At its Sept. 26 meeting, the Ferndale City Council agreed to terminate its lease agreement with Ferndale Public Schools for the use of the Kulick Center, located at 1201 Livernois St.

“We’re collaborating right now, transitioning our Parks and Recreation Department out of there into a working office space called Incubizo, which is where their new offices are going to be publicly available,” said City Manager Joe Gacioch. Incubizo, a co-working office space, is located at 1938 Burdette St.

The relationship between the city and school district began in 2000 when the two agreed on a 25-year lease agreement for Ferndale to use the former Washington Elementary School as the community center.

The city continued its use of the building until 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic, along with infrastructure failures and budget challenges, forced its closure. Parks and Recreation staff have not been able to use the center since.

“The Kulick Center actually suspended operations … because the building’s just not suitable to meet the current health needs to address the pandemic, and it was going to be cost-prohibitive to retrofit it,” Gacioch said.

The approximately 100-year-old building now has been reverted to Ferndale Public Schools. Director of Communications and Pupil Services Bill Good said the building is closed and the district is investigating its options on what to do with the center.

“It’s a very old building,” he said. “Buildings like that cost significant funds to be able to renovate, and so what we’re doing right now is we’re investigating what to do with the property, and we are committed to maintaining ownership of the property. We’re not going to sell. It’s going to be part of Ferndale schools. We’re just not sure the best use for the property yet, and that’s what we’re investigating and we’re going to be working with our community to get their feedback before we make a final determination.”

Good said the district plans to winterize the community center while it’s closed so that it doesn’t suffer any major issues while the school district determines what to do.

“There’s a playground and a decent-sized park on the property that we’ll maintain and continue so that the community can use that as we’re trying to figure out what the best long-term solution is.”

Good also stated that the district will not be selling the property, as the district knows there were some concerns that might happen, as FPS sold multiple properties approximately eight years ago.

“There was some folks who were very concerned about that,” he said. “We will not be selling this property. We’re just not sure in what capacity we’ll be using it.”

As for what the Parks and Recreation Department will do now without a proper community center, Gacioch said the focus since the pandemic began has been on outdoor recreation.

“The Kulick Center provided us an opportunity for indoor recreation and enrichment,” he said. “Obviously, since that’s been closed, (Parks and Recreation has) been unable to do that, so they’re focusing on just what they can do, and that’s outdoor recreation. They are working collaboratively with the school district on reimplementing some indoor recreation, like basketball leagues using school property.”

On Oct. 17, a facilities task force led by residents delivered a report to the City Council on recommendations for capital investments into city facilities.

For a community center, the task force recommended that Ferndale pursue an indoor/outdoor recreation facility that would be located at Martin Road Park and that the city consolidate its Parks and Recreation office and meeting space into a possible new City Hall.