By TR Robertson
The third major build project completed on the San Marcos TERI Campus of Life is set for a Ribbon Cutting and Open House on Sunday, May 5th as the Walter J. & Betty C. Zable Foundation Performing Arts & Fine Arts Center is nearing completion. The TERI Campus of Life is designed to provide services to individuals with disabilities using an array of 20 programs to assist, teach, educate and empower individuals with special needs. The completion of the Performing Arts & Fine Arts Center is one step closer to the continued addition of a variety of buildings for TERI which is planned to begin construction in the Fall of 2025. This $50 million dollar construction of the TERI Campus of Life will include the Founders Center & Bornemann Child Development, Dr. Bronner’s Country Day School & The Learning Academy, the TERI Tech Center, The Aquatics Center, The Verna Harrah Culinary Institute and the Health & Wellness Center. All of these facilities will assist in TERI’s mission of providing Education for Special Needs, Residential Lifetime Housing, Arts & Enrichment Programs, Family Training & Special Services, Vocational Training & Internships, and Sustainable Social Enterprises. TERI (Training, Education and Resource Institute) Founder & CEO Cheryl Kilmer said, in the 2023 Impact Report,
“The Campus of Life is the key to unlocking TERI’s vision – to build a place where the entire community can learn, create, and thrive side-by-side.”
Final construction, inside touch-ups and furnishing, and outdoor landscaping was underway for the two building Zable Foundation Performing Arts & Fine Arts Center, comprising 22,000 sq. ft. of space. The Arts Center consists of a Fine Arts Center that features a spacious Vocational Kitchen and a Student Commons area that looks out on the Twin Oaks Terrace, a Ceramics Studio with a large kiln, three large arts studios and a number of smaller rooms for personalized instruction, crafts studios, a textile room and a nurse’s station. The Performing Arts Center starts with the Old Oak Grove Terrace that leads into music and performing arts classrooms, a dressing room, a make-up room, a green room, a small lobby area with a kitchen and break room and the Center is highlighted by a large 200 seat-auditorium with an equally sizable stage. The stage will be used for adaptive performing arts education and a shared resource for community events and entertainment. Dan Dreesen, General Contractor for Johnson and Jennings (J&J) Construction said, “This has been the (most purposeful) job of my career” and expressed his excitement at the completion of the Performing Arts & Fine Arts Center and the beginning of the next set of facilities for TERI. Work was ongoing at The Center to complete the stage, outside accessibility and final touches for the building, heading toward the May 5th Open House.
Numerous philanthropic donors have assisted TERI throughout the 43 years of TERI’s existence. Donors like Charles R. Cono, Tomlinson Foundation, Walter J. and Betty C. Zable Foundation, Herbert Gabriel Trust, Catherine M. Schwartz, Dr. Bronner’s, Victoria Pauley, Harriet E. Pfleger Foundation, James and Cynthia Bornemann and Stephen and Mary Birch Foundation, and many, many others, have been instrumental in helping TERI Campus of Life continue to reach their goals of providing the best practice, care, and programs for special needs individuals as possible.
One currently operational and popular enterprise on the TERI Campus of Life is the TERI Common Grounds Café & Coffee Bar, located in the Tomlinson Vocational Center. The TERI Common Grounds Café & Coffee Bar is open from 8 am every morning, closing at 3 pm Mon.-Wed., 2 pm on Sunday and staying open longer on Thursdays through Saturdays with Happy Hour menu items and live entertainment. TERI Common Grounds has a great selection of coffees, smoothies, breakfast items, salads, light bites, and sandwiches, all at reasonable prices. There are also indoor and outdoor spaces and meeting rooms available. Weddings have also been held in several of the outdoor locations.
The Grand Opening Weekend will begin on May 4th with The Heartland Rock Revue featuring Feat, Jesse Ray Smith, Ash Easton and American Idol performer Adin Boyer performing at The Bornemann, there is a charge for the entertainment. The Ribbon Cutting & Open House Tours will begin at 10 am on May 5th, followed by a Cinco de Mayo Brunch with Vic Moraga and later in the evening Acoustic Alliance with Tim Flannery performing at The Bornemann. There is a charge for the performance. Community members, guests and people of all ages and abilities are invited to attend the free Ribbon Cutting & Open House or any of the ticketed performances.
For more information about TERI Campus of Life and any of the programs and events, or information on volunteering or making donations to TERI, go to www.teriinc.org or www.tericommongroundscafe.com or call 858-356-4546. TERI Campus of Life is located at 555 Deer Springs Road in San Marcos.
