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 project supports multiple City goals as laid out in the:

• Oakland General Plan 2045

• 2020 Equitable Climate Action Plan

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

• 2014 Lake Merritt Station Area Plan - prioritized Lincoln for further investment and highlighted lack of adequate parks pace needed to serve existing area and future population growth

• Current and past Capital Improvement Program plans

• Measure U priorities outlined in City staff reports

• 2024 Oakland Urban Forest Plan

• Plan Bay Area 2050 by the Association of Bay Area Governments (SB 375)

The latest updates from City staff is that the a contractor will be finalized the first half of 2026.

On June 2, 2026, City Council voted to award the construction contract. We will certainly invite you to our much anticipated groundbreaking and community celebration in late summer.

While Friends of Lincoln Square Park is working hard to advance this project without delay, it is ultimately the City of Oakland that determines when construction will actually start.

Construction is estimated to take approximately 18-20 months.

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.

With the help of many supporters and community partners, Friends of Lincoln Square Park is the one community organization soley focused on building a new rec center at Lincoln Square Park, supporting community programming, and keeping park stakeholders engaged and informed.

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 and other Community Partners, 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.

Now that construction is imminent, We are now leading a Lincoln Legacy endowment campaign to ensure that the center will be able to serve the community for generations to come.

2026 will be another full year as we:

• Formerly launch our donor recognition opportunities, raising funds for our Lincoln Legacy Fund Campaign

• 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 (Early Fall 2026)

• 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 resilience. 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.

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.

Yes! While this program has included overwhelming community support and engagement, this project is a City of Oakland capital improvement project.

Key City of Oakland departments include:

• Oakland Public Works has led the project planning and development and is currently managing the project construction.

• The Oakland Parks, Recreation and Youth Development Department is the project “client” and OPRYD provides project and park staffing and daily programming at the park.

• The Sustainability and Resilience Division of the City Administrator's Office has been supporting the efforts to build the City’s first municipal resilience hub at Lincoln Square Park.

• The Emergency Management Services Division is leading preparedness and emergency response planning for the new center and providing training and technical support.

• The City’s Cultural Affairs Division is leading on public art projects incorporated into the new center.

Primary community partners include:

• Friends. of Lincoln Square Park is leading community outreach and engagement, and coordinating the fundraising campaign to support the new center

• Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) and their members have been instrumental in advocating for the new center and leading the climate resilience planning

• Wa Sung Community Service Club is the fiscal sponsor of Friends of Lincoln Square Park and has been an active steward of the Lincoln Square Park for generations

• The Oakland Chinatown Coalition and their members have been project supports since first forming to represent Chinatown community interests in the Lake Merritt Station Area Plan approved in 2014

Key Contractors:

• Shah Kawasaki Architects

• S.J. Amoroso Construction