At an Isla Vista Recreation and Park District meeting last night, attendees discussed plans for the new I.V. Community Center, issues related to the Isla Vista Master Plan, and a combined concert and canned food drive scheduled for this weekend.

The IVRPD has narrowed its search for a community center architect down to four candidates. Plans for the center include a large multipurpose hall and an outdoor recreation facility, both of which will be used for community events and celebrations.

The process of choosing an architect began when a committee led by the IVRPD approached 80 different architecture firms to see which ones were most qualified to undertake the project. Eleven firms replied, of which the committee asked five to make proposals.

IVRPD General Manager Derek Johnson said each of the four final candidates were interviewed to make sure they would adequately represent the project.

“Quite often the architect is the person out in the public eye,” Johnson said. “They are the person quoted in the paper – the person who the constituent calls up and asks a question about.”

The committee’s first-choice proposal had an estimated cost of $865,000.

Logan Green, Associated Students’ external vice president for local affairs, said he thought the second proposal under consideration had an unrealistically low estimated price tag of $700,000 for a project of this size.

IVRPD board members also discussed the impact of new parking meters and a parking permit program to be implemented in Isla Vista.

Johnson suggested that money generated from paid parking could be used for coastal improvement projects, while other board members expressed concern that the high costs of parking meters or permits could unreasonably stretch the financial resources of Isla Vista’s low-income residents.

In addition, the board granted a fee waiver and time extension to UCSB senior John Ilias, who is the organizer of a planned concert and canned food drive to take place Nov. 23 in Anisq’ Oyo’ Park. Ilias said the event, titled “Aftershock,” will feature seven bands and take place from noon to 7 p.m.

“I’ve produced some of the largest events in Southern California, and every year, at the end of the year, I like to do something nice for the community,” Ilias said. “Right before Thanksgiving, I do a canned food drive, and right before Christmas, I do a toy drive.”

The board usually grants fee waivers to organizers of events that are of a philanthropic nature.

Isla Vista Foot Patrol officer Sandra Brown also gave a presentation to the board, updating its members on criminal incidents that recently occurred in local parks. She said the most serious incident, which occurred last week, involved two homeless men who were found in possession of methamphetamines in Anisq’ Oyo’ Park.

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