New wellness center, cafe planned for former Yountville school

A new wellness center and farmstand cafe are planned for the former Yountville Elementary School, now known as the Yountville Commons, which the town bought in April.

The Yountville Town Council on July 16 approved the two temporary uses for the property on Yount Street. Permanent uses for the space are being decided but are said to include workforce or affordable housing.

The town purchased the former school property for $11 million from the Napa Valley Unified School District.

Yountville Commons Wellness Center

Residents have long expressed the need for a gym in the town after its sole facility, Yountville Fitness Center, closed in 2015.

The Yountville Commons Wellness Center will use six of the former school’s classrooms and its library. According to design plans submitted to the city, separate areas would be used for a computer room, group exercise, free weights, cardio, strength training machines and yoga.

Donavan’s Wellness Solutions LLC, led by Napa Valley fitness trainer Donavan Almond, will run the center.

“There’s going to be a sense of hospitality that most gyms don’t have, and I think that’s been our advantage,” Almond said.

Yountville Town Manager Brad Raulston said at the meeting Almond had been exploring the opportunity to create a fitness center for the town prior to the purchase of the school. There “clearly was not space” in the Yountville Community Center, Raulston said, but the school site became an obvious opportunity.

“As long as we can keep it affordable for residents, I’d be knocking on the door,” resident Alan Tenscher said during public comment.

The gym will be open from 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays through Sundays, according to a use agreement.

Monthly membership will cost $70-$100 for Yountville residents younger than 55 years old; $50-$80 for residents age 55 and older and town employees; and $70-$120 for Yountville-based businesses and employees.

Town Council members said they were excited about the project, and unanimously voted to support it.

Council member Pam Reeves said a gym is needed in Yountville; she recalled having to drive to Napa gyms as she recovered from hip surgery.

“It just feels like this is exactly what we’ve been asking for,” Reeves said at the meeting. “If you can balance your business between the visitors and the residents, you will be our poster child for future uses in town that address both.”

The town has budgeted an estimated $190,000 for site improvements for the gym, including “new flooring, paint, wall treatments, electrical infrastructure and furniture.”

Yountville Farmstand and Farm Provisions Cafe

Council members also approved Hoopes Vineyard to use the former school’s Little League field concessions stand as a year-round public farmstand and cafe.

Hoopes currently operates Oasis by Hoopes a farmstand at the Yountville Community Center on Thursdays. Oasis by Hoopes, a nonprofit, provides produce from a regenerative farm and other provisions, along with guest vendors.

The staff report says the new farmstand business would be operated as a six-day-a-week cafe that serves “local produce, beverages, locally sourced and inspired fast casual food,”

The farmstand would offer concessions during Little League home games, summer events and as a distribution site for Community Support Agriculture box pick-up, according to a staff report.

Samantha Holland, the town’s parks and recreation director, said the shack is permitted to operate as a commercial kitchen.

The town will invest about $50,000 into improving the site, she said, largely for exterior improvements, such as painting and fixing access issues.

Outreach plan on repurposing the site

While the interim uses at the Yountville Commons move forward, the town is planning to engage with the community on future uses of the site.

The engagement schedule, according to a news release, includes:

• A Town Council study session from 1-3 p.m. Aug. 6 in the town hall council chambers at 6550 Yount St.

• An open house from 3-6 p.m. Aug. 19 at the school’s former multipurpose room — now known as Commons Hall — at 6554 Yount St.

• A Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission study session at 6 p.m. Sept. 19 at the town hall council chambers.

• An Affordable and Workforce Housing Oversight Committee study session in October at the town hall.

• A Zoning and Design Review Board Study Session is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Nov. 12 in the town hall.

The town will continue to host additional open house events between September and February 2025, and online surveys will also be used throughout the engagement process.

Raulston said at the July 16 meeting for now the town isn’t moving to enact permanent reuses of the site. The focus is finishing the current tasks, including installing a temporary dog park and creating a plan for landscaping.

The council on July 16 approved a budget adjustment of $500,000, increasing the amount of funds dedicated to improving the site for interim projects to $1 million.

For at least the current year, Raulston said, he’s confident that the budget adjustment will be the final one connected to the Yountville Commons in the current 2024-25 fiscal year.

“We all know the idea phase and housing and whatever else will be very expensive, and so we’re not even talking about that right now,” Raulston said. “We’re just talking about getting these five things done, making it functional and usable for our community, and then really starting a robust outreach which is critical to the success long-term.”

You can reach Staff Writer Edward Booth at 707-521-5281 or edward.booth@pressdemocrat.com .