Lucie Stern Community Center

The yoga at 530 on mondays is great. you sign up for a series on the phone with the rec dept.
Good teacher
He is a hippy surfer with great energy and wisdom.
The classes start with a centering meditation and make a smooth
transition to the movement.
He gives special attention to students special needs and tailors the classes to the energy of the class and really stresses that we listen to our bodies, and ask questions and have fun.
I have had injuries from the gym, and he is always helpful and has good suggestions on what might help.

THIS IS NOT A REFLECTION OF ANY THEATRE COMPANY THAT USES THE LUCIE STERN:
The theatre itself is cute and the seats seem to be well maintained. However I feel sorry for the theatre companies that use this space, the ushers and front of house staff, often look confused and are not overly friendly. Concessions are a joke, sodas and water are room temperature, and they’ve gone to using a KURIG single use coffee maker.
This is the most idiotic thing I’ve seen. One coffee at a time, for a 200+ audience? I went to the concessions area right as intermission started, waited in line, bought my coffee, and then had to get my money back when they weren’t able to make my coffee in time to be able to drink it during intermission (and you can’t bring it in the theatre).
P. S. Most other theatres allow you to bring things into the theatre… get with the times.

This is a very lovely theater tucked into a community center type park in Palo Alto. The theater is small — even the back row has good viewing — and the seats are not too uncomfortable. Parking can be a challenge — if they have a dedicated lot, it is very small, and street parking gets full. It is all on one level, so there is no elevator to deal with, but it may be a bit difficult for wheel chairs (not once you are inside, but getting to it from the street). Thy often have craft fairs in the courtyard, which are fun but make the parking that much more difficult.
Staff and ushers are very nice and seem to want to help you.
Bottled water only allowed in the theater. Concessions are $ 2 each (or 3/​$ 5) for candy, water, soda (served in a cup), or cookies. Not outrageous, considering the fact that you are supporting community theater.

My wedding client for married here recently. The grounds are gorgeous and the details are wonderful to capture for the photographers. I have to admit however there were quite a few things that were not quite up to par that you might want to take into consideration if your going to get married here!
1. if your going to be using the large ballroom for your wedding or event make sure there are no excersise classes that same day. We showed up that morning to set up and there was a 5 hour yoga and dance class going on. You can only imagine what that smelled like all day since there is no real air conditioner or large windows with a breeze to open. Also no one comes in and cleans the floor after that so it’s sweaty and gross from the class.
2. It is really nice of them to allow their couples to store items in their offices during the weekend for the wedding however they have to make sure they tell their staff to unlock the doors. We were stranded for a little over two hours while i called every emergency after hours number possible to get a hold of someone. All of my clients décor was in this room and we had no way of getting in.
3. make sure their after hours phone number actually gets rolled over to a phone OUTSIDE of the office. Every number I called could be heard from where I was standing in the venue… because it was calling the front desk. I verified all this information well before my clients wedding and then once again days before but just be aware.
in all however the client was thrilled, the grounds are AMAZING to have your pictures taken and the atmosphere is wonderful and calming. Everything you would want when your getting married.

Lovely courtyard. Always busy, it shows the community really uses what this city has to offer. Great place to see a Theatreworks show!

Theaterworks stages their productions here — not to small and not too large, but cozy enough to really get involved with the actors on stage. The latest production of «Big River» based on Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn was fun and singing was spectacular — but I’m not here to review the play!
Parking can be limited — especially when other events are taking place. Be prepared to park a few blocks down the street and walk to the theater.
Seats are comfortable and the sound system is good. I do wish that there was a center aisle — it gets a little awkward when you have those perfect center row seats and need to step over people when you get that urge to go to the bathroom.
Staff is always friendly and helpful in locating seats and providing programs.

We used the Lucie Stern Ballroom for our wedding reception, and the patio for the cocktail hour. The rental rates were reasonable, Mary (the contact for the community center) was very helpful and friendly, and the ballroom is beautiful. The reason I didn’t give it a full 5 stars was that it lacked an AC system — so the temperatures were a bit high and stuffy during the dancing part of the reception. Other than that, it was a great place for a reception and cocktail hour.

How could I not give this place 5 stars!?!
I was here for a wedding, and it’s nothing overwhelming where I would say «It’s a perfect honeymoon place» because thats not the case — but for the venue we attended, it WAS perfect.
There was a whole other side of the facility, but I never ventured over there — so I can’t comment on that. We used the big grass lawn, and reception hall and back patio… Couldn’t have been better.
The staff was very friendly, the food served (not sure if it was cook there or not) was great, and the place was welcoming.

As community centers go, I thought this one was pretty good. I went to the theater to see a play, and it was comfortable with good acoustics. The play was weird, but I will try going to another production in the future and give the troupe another chance.
An event was going on in the community room and it looked like a nice space for a party.

Swung by here to check it out as a wedding ceremony site. There’s no need to make an appointment. You can just go in through the main office, tell them at the front desk that you want to take a look at the back for a wedding and you can just go through.
There’s no real door to the garden in the back (I got in the back via a conference room door). There must be another way to get to it, i.e. probably the wooden service gate from the back.
The garden is shaped as a square. It’s a small site and the grass is uneven (in the pics it looks flat, but there’s a dip). There’s a wooden overhang for half of the garden. Per
, it says this site can seat 250 guests outside. I don’t see that happening. There are flowers that are overgrown (I don’t know if it’s purposely for that «wild flower» look or if it’s not well maintained) and so it covers a red brick ledge.
The overall place is pretty «boxed» in with the gate and the buildings surrounding the lawn. Nevertheless, to book the place, I believe you need to come to the office or call exactly one year in advance and they will reserve the spot for you. It’s a first come, first serve deal. I don’t remember the cost, but I remember it being very, very reasonable (a couple hundred, maybe?).

Somehow I found myself in Palo Alto. Not necessarily a place that I would venture to for fun but I was here for a wedding reception.
The Lucie Stern Community Center is located right next to a kid’s museum and they share the same parking lot: problem #1. It’s hard to find parking here. You’ll have to park on the streets in a neighborhood. Which isn’t bad, but when you’ve got heels on and have to walk, well, it just sucks.
The Community Center itself is actually cute and cozy, like a little cottage. For the reception, they had a little bar set up in the courtyard with a pretty little garden and a small grassy area. It was a beautiful sunny day in Palo Alto, so it was perfect for the reception.
Once it was grubbin’ time, we were lead into one of the banquet halls. It was a nice room. High ceilings, high windows and fairly spacious. All the tables were set and it was actually quite beautiful. It had a woodsy kinda feeling.
But halfway into the reception… it started getting really hot in there! I was getting sweaty, not very comfortable. There was no air conditioning and people started standing by the windows, because they were trying to catch a cool breeze.
Overall, I thought this little community center was A-​OK! Not too shabby at all. It was well maintained and nice. But some downfalls were:
— Not enough parking, the lot is small and fills up quick, so you have to park on the street in the neighborhood.
— The heat buildup inside the halls.
— red brick pavement made it really hard for me to walk in heels and I already have issues with heels, so it was no bueno.
Other than that… this community center was great for a small wedding reception.

If you love off Broadway, why not go even farther to off Middlefield?
The Lucie Stern Community Center has many elements to love: 2 theaters, a ballroom, an outdoor patio, community room, a working kitchen and a fireside room. It’s also where you’ll find the Boy Scouts and the Recreation Department. All this sitting under the shade of gorgeous trees and located next door to the Junior Museum. If you’re looking for a place to hold a meeting or want to tie the knot and not spend a bundle, the rental fees are very reasonable. They even have an enclosed private patio that can accommodate up to 250 guests. At $ 114 an hour if you’re a resident or $ 170 an hour for non-​residents, it’s a beautiful and affordable location for any event.
The main community theatre is the long-​time host for the talented Palo Alto Player’s productions, today being it’s last day of their 79^th season. My parents have always been fans of both musicals and plays. I still remember them taking me here when I was a kid. The theatre itself was a gift to the city from Lucie Stern, herself, in 1933. Its Spanish style architecture is the same way it was 20 years ago. But now, the old oak trees have grown larger and everything seems much smaller than my 10 year old memories. Isn’t it always that way?
I came here for Mother’s Day to see Rent, which was spectacular! The sound, lighting, and sets seemed much bigger and better than what you would expect from a local venue. Most importantly, my Mom loved it, although I was a terribly bad daughter and got there late! We’re not talking the usual «Chinese Time» or even «Greek Ish Time» late. I was so late that I missed Last Call and had to get my ticket from the theater manager who had me sit way in the back row where bad girls get banished. I’ll let you know if I get grounded for that one! Whoops!
During intermission, they have a small snack stand set up in the lobby. Beverages are only 1 for $ 2 or 3 for five bucks. A bit home grown, it’s not the most gourmet and the cookies are grocery store quality. However, the best part is that you know with every sip or bite of your cookie, it goes towards the Arts. The theatre itself is in good condition, but not modern. You can tell that the seats have been newly refurbished, although the bathrooms and carpeting are starting to show their age.
It turned out the back row was actually more popular than the first couple of rows. My parents and a few other patrons joined me after intermission. The front is so close to the stage that being a foot away is actually a disadvantage. My Mom laughed saying that «it was so close that not only did you have to tilt your neck back, but you could see and smell how hard those performers were working.» That’s what I call a little too close!
As my mom has told me many times, «It doesn’t matter if you’re 20 and she’s 45 or you’re 60 and she’s 80 something, you’ll always be their little one! Happy Mother’s Day to all!