AUBURN — The site plan for the new $9 million PAL Community Center was approved by the Planning Board this week, capping years of planning for the revamped youth center that saw some resistance from the neighborhood.

The 14,000-square-foot facility will replace a much smaller, aging building that since 2013 has become a popular after-school drop-in center for Auburn youth. The new building, featuring a full-size gym for basketball, tennis and other sports, was developed by Woodard & Curran and Simons Architects, and received considerable federal money secured by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.

According to a city news release Thursday, demolition of the existing center and construction is slated to begin in May, and is scheduled for an August 2025 opening. The center will also feature a commercial kitchen and multipurpose rooms.

“The Auburn PAL Center has been very successful and has had an overwhelmingly positive impact on the neighborhood,” City Manager Phil Crowell said. “But the need for an enhanced, expanded facility has become apparent.”

The plans, approved unanimously by the Planning Board on Tuesday, include a new traffic pattern that closes Chestnut Street to through traffic and creates a parking area and pedestrian walkways.

The closure, while deemed necessary by officials for a safer and more well-designed project, was opposed by many residents. The City Council approved the street closure in November. In total, only roughly 250 feet of the street is being discontinued, but it’s a section that has allowed a neighborhood connection between Webster and Winter streets.

Several neighbors again spoke out against the project during Tuesday’s hearing, sharing concerns for increased traffic on nearby streets due to the closure.

Maureen O’Brien, an abutter who has questioned the project since it was first proposed, said she’s in favor of programming for Auburn children, but is against the street closure and the size of the building. She said the city still has space at Pettengill Park where it already has several municipal buildings.

Officials working on the project have said the closure is the best way to ensure safety for the larger youth center, as well as the best use of the land available for the new building footprint. A traffic study conducted for the project did not hit the threshold for needing additional traffic mitigation measures, staff said.

According to a presentation on the site plan, the “traffic study found that changes in traffic distribution patterns should not negatively impact traffic operations in the study area or at adjacent roadways and intersections.”

After several neighbors spoke against the project, Crowell also spoke during public comment, recapping the need for the center. He said the half square mile area around the PAL Center drives a quarter of police calls in Auburn, and that “having this presence was critical.”

He said Auburn also has a “tremendous food insecurity issue,” and that as a drop-in center, children can walk there after school, access food, homework help or other services.

During the hearing, the Planning Board supported the overall project, but member Evan Cyr questioned several times a procedural question over zoning. He questioned why city staff developed the site plan under the T-4.2 zone when the large majority of the property, including where the building will be located, is in the open space zone.

He said because the Planning Board has been under such intense scrutiny lately, it “muddies a project that ought not to have procedural questions involved” and could set a precedent for future projects.

Staff said they used T-4.2, a type of form-based code, because it has more stringent standards, especially for buildings.

According to a release, the city allocated $3 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds toward the project, which was matched by federal spending secured by Collins.

The previous City Council approved $1.5 million in bonds, and also allocated the final $1.5 million from the city’s undesignated fund balance, or “rainy day fund.” The release said the PAL board of directors hopes to partner with local sponsors to raise additional funding for equipment, furniture, supplies and programming.

The center serves an average of 30 to 50 children each day. When construction begins, PAL programming will temporarily relocate to the Auburn Recreation Department.

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