Hawzah News Agency (California, US) –  Ground has been broken for a new Woodland Mosque & Islamic Center along the city’s East Street corridor.

When completed over the next year to 18 months, the Mosque & Islamic Center will replace an existing cluster of buildings at 1023 North St.

The current Mosque is located about 100 yards from the railroad line which parallels East Street, and consists of a converted house, outbuilding and a large brick structure that might have been a machine shop or storage building years earlier.

Prayer services for both men and women as well as community gatherings have been held at the current North Street site for more than 30 years.

Fundraising and other work on the new Islamic Center has been taking place for more than five years. When the new building is finished, it will occupy what is now a vacant lot on the northeast corner of East Street at Oak Avenue.

According to design specifications, the new Center will be a single-story structure of 16,206 square feet and include a children’s play area on the east side of the building with a small garden on the west side, which fronts East Street.

It will also include a dome over the main prayer room, topped by an Islamic crescent, and a green minaret or prayer tower on the northern side.

As for the interior of the building, plans show it will contain separate men’s and women’s prayer rooms, a kitchen and dining area, multi-purpose room, library, conference room, office and three interior foyers.

The color scheme will consist of a sandy, stucco exterior with green, pink and gold highlights along with gold-colored pillars supporting the outside, open air entry foyers.

The property is zoned for commercial structures and is 3.2 acres in size.

The new facility is needed to accommodate the city’s growing Muslim population and has been years in planning. Formal application was made for the project in August 2018 and updated building permits were approved in April this year.

Another, more elaborate Islamic Center is located in Davis off Russell Avenue and serves that community’s Muslim population.

End.