West University Place’s Facilities Utilization Task Force presented its recommendations to City Council Sept. 14 after nine months of research.
What is it?
The task force is a group of eight residents with diverse perspectives regarding the use of the West University Place Library, Community Building and Senior Center.
The task force, which formed in December 2025, was responsible for completing assessments, reporting on the current use of the facilities, creating a list of requirements for the facilities and producing a report on the functional and technical deficiencies of the locations.
The study was initially set to last for three months but was extended twice, with the latest extension pushing the results to September. Dean Strombom, co-chair of the task force, presented the findings to council during the Sept. 14 meeting.
Assessing the need
In the final report, the task force gave recommendations for each of the city’s facilities.
For the library, the group found that the facility needed the following:
Strombom added that after talking with Harris County library officials, Strombom said they recommended that the space be 14,000 square feet, a significant increase from its current layout of 5,564 square feet.
For the community building and senior center, the task force said the facilities needed:
A more welcoming entrance
Casual seating areas
Social gathering space
Covered outdoor space
Additional kitchen and storage
Classrooms and meeting spaces
What residents are saying
The task force also surveyed residents about the frequency of facility usage, reasons for not visiting any facilities, library must-haves, city performance on important attributes and programs and services needed.
“The survey revealed strong support for West University's Library and community spaces," Strombom said. "However, residents were deeply divided over the scale, cost and direction of future improvements. We found the clearest areas of consensus among the surveyed respondents were the need to use taxpayer funds cautiously and responsibly.”
The survey showed that about half of the respondents wanted modest renovations and preservation-focused upgrades. The other half wanted larger, future-oriented, modern facilities for long-term growth and evolving needs, Strombom said.
The cost
The task force also evaluated a facility condition assessment by engineering experts that gave cost estimates for repairs for each facility.
The assessment found that the community's senior center required the most significant investment, with repairs for that facility estimated at $1.6 million.
On the other hand, Strombom said the library had a better overall condition due to prior renovations. However, the assessment found that there were still issues that included significant water intrusion and localized foundation settlement, as well as mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems in need of replacement or modernization.
The estimated repairs for the library are $1 million.
The future
The overall recommendations were:
Keep the library, community and senior center complex at Auden and Rice Boulevard, where it is located
Renovate the library
Replace the added-on section of the senior center with a two-story addition
Renovate or replace the auditorium in the center
Tie all three facilities together in one big center, giving it one name
No action was taken on the presentation. However, City Council unanimously approved receiving the report to discuss next steps.
