State officials have restored a $3 million grant to Marin City to renovate its community center and gymnasium.

Richard Rendón, chief of California State Parks’ Office of Grants and Local Services, confirmed the grant extension on Monday. The Joint Legislative Budget Committee “approved the extension for legislatively specified grants enrolled in FY 2022, which was subsequently executed by the Department of Finance,” he said by email.

“This approval extends Marin City’s specified grant deadline to June 30, 2030, with the same grant scope in place,” he said.

The extension came after county officials and state legislators wrote letters urging the Marin City Community Services District be given more time to renovate the complex at 630 Drake Ave. Under the original grant, the renovations were to be done by Dec. 31, 2025.

“This is our promise to the community,” said Sarah Canson, a district board member. “By the end of 2026, we will deliver long-overdue upgrades they deserve, creating a safer, more welcoming building and space the community can be proud of.”

“I’m excited, very excited for the community, for the CSD, for all of the people that worked really hard to make this happen,” said Juanita Edwards, the general manager. “A lot of people did lean in and ask for this extension.”

“We were requesting a two-year extension and received a four-year extension,” said D’Angelo Paillet, a Marin County staffer. “It is a reimbursable grant where they need to pay for the work and then they will be reimbursed through the grant. We are deeply grateful to California State Parks for extending the grant term.”

In 2022, the Legislature appropriated $3 million to upgrade recreational facilities overseen by the Marin City district. At the time, board members approached state Sen. Mike McGuire and initially discussed using the funds for a swimming pool.

At the same time, the two buildings at 630 Drake Ave. were in need of repairs. The larger structure includes a basketball court, a boxing gym, a lounge and a kitchen. The other building is a senior center that includes the district offices, a community meeting room and a kitchen.

Both structures were built in the 1970s. Outside shingles and interior ceiling tiles are missing at the gym; the kitchens in both buildings are dated and not entirely functional; and plumbing issues cause sewage to back up and spill into bathrooms.

In August, the Marin City Community Services District board approved spending up to $353,000 to hire a team of architects to inventory needed repairs and prepare materials to seek renovation bids.

The district and county then submitted a grant extension application and endorsements to extend the project by two years. McGuire, Assemblymember Damon Connolly, Marin County Supervisor Mary Sackett and others wrote letters of support.

In the fall, Rendón said legislators had to include the extension in the state’s next annual budget, which is usually adopted in June. That delay cast a shadow on the project. But Marin City staff, consultants and the board continued to identify needed work.

Edwards said the district board will finalize the scope of work to be done and solicit bids early in 2026.

“The board has pretty much looked at things that we need to prioritize,” she said. “Like upgrading our restrooms, definitely the plumbing, doing a commercial kitchen in our senior center, windows, doors, all that.”

“We’ve already had some contractors come out and take a look and say they are interested in doing some of the projects,” Edwards said. “It’s important that we keep moving forward. We don’t slow down just because we got this extension.”