How can we make the Civic Center more fun and dynamic for the community?

Movies in the “Park” - Civic Center One way to strengthen community engagement is by hosting a Movies in the Park series at the Civic Center. The outdoor space could be transformed into a welcoming gathering place where families, friends, and neighbors can enjoy free, family-friendly movie nights together. To help manage attendance and ensure a safe, enjoyable experience, seating could be limited and offered through free advance tickets on a first-come, first-served basis. This would allow organizers to plan accordingly while keeping the event accessible to everyone. Events like these encourage residents to connect with one another, create a stronger sense of community, and make greater use of public spaces. A recurring movie night would provide a simple, inclusive, and cost-effective way to bring people together and promote community involvement.

Display flags that represent other cultures on Ave of the Flags other than the American flag multiple times.

Since the Marin Civic Center is available for self guided tours at 7 am, we could invite people of all ages to walk the halls. Organized groups could start at 7 am and 7:30 am. This is also a great way to rally volunteers. We have a lot of tourists from all over the world. We should have a visitor log, map or QR Code to track where they are visiting from, their impression of the building and their favorite photo they took. We should also update the self guided tour pamphlet the Civic Center has online and translate it to different languages. Employee book club/s that have a dedicated meeting room for monthly meetings. Maybe an art club too!

A play structure or designated play area for children/families to interact.

shared public workspace. Access to desks, electricity, internet, & bathrooms.

A play structure or designated play space for kids.

Lactation space or parents' room within the civic center.

Have a permanent coffee shop/kiosk at or near the old cafeteria.

Food trucks

A game room/craft room/entertainment library. Foosball tables bring people together. Can easily accommodate up to four people simultaneously. Table top games. Good wholesome gaming competition! Craft room for folks to do beadwork, mosaic art, cross-stitch. Also a library where people can exchange & borrow media, including movies, music, video games. Include tv and headphones to sample some of the media.

The building is steeped in history and boasts beautiful architecture. We should leverage these two aspects to our advantage and host special events for the community, such as a Day of the Dead festival/market. We could invite specific families or communities (for example, the Novato and SR schools that want to participate, or sports leagues) and invite local artisans to showcase their products. It would be a great opportunity to promote unity, diversity, and culture. The same goes for a harvest fair at the end of November and a Christmas fair/winter festival where different school bands have the opportunity to perform and choirs can sing carols. It would be a fantastic opportunity to bring the community together. If this were to happen, I would love to be on the organizing committee. Fingers crossed!

Allow Food vendors to rotate and have more charging stations.

Please bring back the cafeteria restaurant.

Increase signage both inside and outside the building, making it visually appealing and providing clear directions to many interesting features of this beautiful building.

Create interactive digital map displays for getting around and locating services in the Civic Center. This will help when physical signage doesn't directly match website information. Alternatively, offer computer stations in public areas of the buildings limited to service location information.

Have photographers who are taking wedding photos or art photos take out permits to do so and if you're using the County's phone numbers make sure you ask to do so and use the correct department/division. There are employees that work in the building and sometimes the public do not seem aware of that.

It would be really nice to have a grand piano somewhere in the Marin County Civic Center where employees or visitors who know how to play could sit down and share their talent. Imagine walking through the building and hearing someone playing a beautiful song—it would make the Civic Center feel even more welcoming and bring a little joy to everyone's day. Music has always had a way of bringing people together, and something as simple as a piano could create moments that people remember.

Maybe updating the cafeteria and adding food at a discounted price for the employees. Adding quarterly classes on how to stay stress free at work and taking care of yourself. Also creating transportation for employees coming from the east bay. With the tolls going up and gas prices it has been hard commuting every day.

Make the Breathing Room a permanent option for Staff where they have space to be able to take a breather and disconnect when its necessary. Hold a Lagoon Block Party with the Community and County Staff where the community can come and meet their local government officials, with booths from all Departments and staff that they can talk to, on a different level, be able to hang out, have music and raffles with swag and it could allow community members to meet and greet staff.