Frances Albrier Community Center

The Berkeley Zoning Adjustment Board, or ZAB, approved use permits Thursday to replace the existing clubhouse and restroom at Willard Park with a new 3,301 square foot community center and bathroom.

With wildfires impacting Northern California, Berkeley’s coronavirus testing facilities are attempting to keep clients safe from both the threat of virus transmission and smoke in the air.

As another wildfire season looms over the Bay Area, the local homeless population remains uncertain of what services will be offered to them.

Resolutions to support local workers unions, a proposal to increase safety at San Pablo Park and the provision of mobile showers for homeless individuals are some of the items on the agenda for Tuesday’s regular Berkeley City Council meeting.

The new location has a kitchen and showers — amenities not offered at any of the three previous locations.

The Berkeley Emergency Storm Shelter will be moving to a new — but not permanent — long-term location at 1931 Center St. in early October, depending on certain “improvements” currently being made by the city. The date remains unconfirmed.

At a public meeting in the Frances Albrier Community Center on Saturday morning, city officials fielded community input and concerns about proposed parks and city building projects to be funded through Measure T1.

The capacity of storm shelters in Berkeley has doubled in response to a City Council directive discussed at last Tuesday’s meeting, providing about 130 people with nightly shelter as the weather in Berkeley worsens.

The city has chosen the North Berkeley Senior Center to act as an emergency shelter this winter, replacing the former shelter at Berkeley’s First Congregational Church that was damaged in a fire this September.

The Berkeley City Council began looking into possibly retrofitting six community sites at a special meeting Tuesday, after a seismic evaluations report declared the buildings unfit in the event of a disaster.