Rent the Wellesley Community Center Halls

The Community Center is still the "Place where Wellesley Meets," but it could be the place where your business meets too.

The Wellesley Community Center remains a place for everything from Boy Scouts to Rotary Club, but parts of it are now up for rent. WCC Executive Director, Stephen Beach, sat down with Patch to talk some more about the Center and its operations. 

The Center opened in 1977, after the Wellesley Jaycees group raised $125,000 after about 5 years of work. The Center has been privately funded since its inception. When Patch stopped by, the Center was preparing for its annual fundraising drive. 

The Center is also now renting out its space. They are taking bookings for business meetings, parties, even weddings. 

Later this year, the Center will co-host a breast cancer fundraiser with Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare. The Rotary Club and networking group BNI Needham Breakfast meets at the Center every week. Starbucks has also held an off-site meeting at the Center. 

Beach works with these organizations to create a simple, fair contract, usually after a trial run meeting at the location. Clients are then free to organize catering and other services themselves. 

"I'm about building relationships," Beach explained, "and building equity."

The Center is independent of the town, but is home to the Council on Aging offices. The town discussed the possibility of acquring the Community Center in 2011, during a plan to incorporate Wellesley Friendly Aid, the WCC, and Wellesley Service League into a single campus. This plan was ultimately scrapped by the Board of Selectmen.

During the discussion of the Senior Center at the most recent Town Meeting, the Wellesley Community Center was also floated as a possible location for the facility.