The Alpine Club is in the heart of Alpine with the San Diego County Alpine Library Branch and the Veterans Wall of Honor. In 1950, the 7.5-acre site was donated to the Alpine Community Center primarily for the benefit of the youth of Alpine. In 1999, the current building was built with a loan from the USDA and support from the community through donations. The center, a non-profit corporation, is not supported by any San Diego County or federal taxes. The Alpine Club is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.
The Alpine Club provides over 8,000 square feet of Community meeting space, a certified kitchen, a playground and park, lighted ballfield, tennis court, and a stage, and is also home to the Goodwill Store.
The Alpine Club Execute Director Shane Greer said with the club being right next to the Alpine Library, the most common misunderstanding is that most people believe that it is funded by the County of San Diego, but in fact, it has always been a nonprofit organization serving the residents of Alpine. The organization was formally called The Alpine Community Center, and before that it was originally named The Alpine Youth Center.
“Nothing has been changed except the name,” he said. “It has always been a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.”
Greer said that the main reason for the change in the name of the organization is the perception of the community.
“It is a privately run nonprofit. We are open, memberships are free, but the perception of the community has always been that we are county funded, county run, taxpayer dollars cover the overhead for this large property, and that is just not true,” he said. “We are more like how the YMCA runs. We all know that the YMCA does so much for the community and people in need, but they also realize that their funds come from private donations and the things they offer for profit. We are trying to get the word out so that people understand that when people have their events here, donate here, when they are involved with The Alpine Club, they affect the Alpine community in a generous way.”
Greer said the Club has softball fields, which it gives to the Alpine girls’ softball at no charge. The grassy ground behind the library is part of the Club and it leaves it open to the public as much as possible, maintain it, and hold events such as Concerts in the Park.
“It is a wonderful space for the community to use,” he said. “We also do many events inside. We have a large ballroom. We do free events like Bingo on Thursdays, a Sit n Fit class on Tuesdays, where a physical therapist comes in. We also have a food pantry that we keep stocked up so when people are between paychecks and do not have enough food, they can call us up and we make them some bags of food to get them through. We have the Fourth of July Festival, the Veterans Wall of Honor, one of the proudest things we have here to honor those who serve. And then we also do for profit things to raise funds for everything that we do. We rent our ballroom out for private events, trying to keep those costs down so it can be inclusive.”
Greer said the Club offers tennis courts for members which are well used. It holds a Trunk or Treat event in October, along with other public events it gets permits for. And for its membership, it has many private events.
“Membership is free and open to anyone in the Alpine area,” he said. “We provide a lot of fun things, but it does cost a lot to keep the space going.”
Greer said the largest funding it gets for its free services is from renting out its ballroom.
“We encourage anyone who lives out in Alpine, or who wants to support the community, if you need a space for a private event, it is beautiful space, and all the proceeds go to running this beautiful property. We rent out our ballroom for birthday parties, weddings, to memorials. We also cater those events. We have a commercial kitchen here. We also own the Goodwill and Urgent Care building, so those rental properties help cover the overhead. And we have generous donors who support all the things that we do,” he said.
For more information on The Alpine Club, its services, memberships, events, or to support, visit www.alpinecommunitycenter.org. The Alpine Club is located at 1830 Alpine Blvd.
