Popular Tacoma community center to be closed during schools’ spring break
Tacoma’s Eastside Community Center will be closed for routine annual maintenance April 6-10, according to Parks Tacoma.
The maintenance will cost $27,000, Parks Tacoma spokesperson Stacia Glenn told The News Tribune. The maintenance includes repairs and upgrades to hardware like cabinets and locks, plumbing and electrical updates, and deep cleaning.
Glenn said the closure allows staff to have uninterrupted access to the center to get maintenance work done.
The closure coincides with Tacoma Public Schools’ spring break, a decision that has frustrated some local leaders. Malachi Cabera, a board member of the South End Neighborhood Council, said the Eastside Community Center has been a stable destination for kids when school isn’t in session.
“I truly believe that Parks Tacoma didn’t realize the impact of the closure of that center has on youth in particular. So I understand they’re trying their best to manage the logistics behind the closure, and that there’s a lot of thought and intention behind the dates and the data,” Cabera told The News Tribune. “But the responses that I received did not feel like that community was at the forefront of that decision that they decided to make.”
Glenn said Parks Tacoma picked the dates for the center’s closure in December, a decision based on low attendance at the center during spring break.
“We understand that temporarily closing community centers creates impacts that can be frustrating to people who rely on these spaces,” she wrote in a statement. “Parks Tacoma works to balance the needs of the community with the needs to maintain the infrastructure that supports recreation and social gathering space.”
Matt Mauer, president of the Parks Tacoma board, said there’s never a good time for the organization to close a community center for repairs. He said the maintenance happening at the Eastside Community Center during spring break is largely preventative, to ensure that the center doesn’t fall into disrepair and that Parks Tacoma doesn’t need to shut it down unexpectedly in the future in the event of a maintenance emergency.
“This is us trying to get ahead of the long term maintenance needs of these buildings to ensure a very long life span,” he told The News Tribune.
Parks Tacoma encourages patrons to visit its other community centers while Eastside is closed. Parks Tacoma is also offering supervised drop-in activities for youth ages 12 to 18 at First Creek Middle School from April 7 through April 9. Visit parkstacoma.gov/centerclosures to learn more.
This story was originally published April 5, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
