Is Your Community Room a Blast From the Past?
Karen McDonald
Community rooms. Many communities feature them, some love them and some love to hate them. Their frequency of use and condition seems to vary widely by community, however many community rooms that we see are in need of a facelift.
As reserve study professionals, we are tasked with including funding for periodic maintenance, repair and replacement of an association’s assets, which also includes common areas such as community rooms and clubhouses. What happens in many communities, however, is funds are spent on the exterior building envelope (which are very important items!) and the community room is left to age as-is because it is considered cosmetic and thus less important. In some communities, walking into the community room is just like going back to my grandmother’s house in the 1970’s – shag carpet, gold colored countertops and all.
The most common reason that we hear for a community not updating their community room or clubhouse is because no one uses it. The question that we ask however, is no one using it because they don’t have a need for it, or is no one
26 Community Associations Journal | September 2018
using it because the room is outdated and is not inviting? People are often looking for a nice space to hold gatherings, such as birthday parties, graduation events and bridal/baby showers, especially in communities where the residential dwellings are compact.
While community room or clubhouse interior updates may be cosmetic for the most part, they are an important reflection of the community.
If the area is outdated, it may
give the impression that the association doesn’t care to maintain its assets. And while a well-appointed community room may not be what sells a unit, an outdated community room could affect a potential buyer’s overall impression of an association. It is our opinion that an association has the duty to maintain all of its assets in top sellable condition, including any cosmetic components within a community room or clubhouse.
Common community room or clubhouse projects include flooring replacement and interior paint. With the exception of longer lived products like tile or hardwood flooring, these
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