"Shattuck Hall is now available for rental." That one line appeared under committee reports on the Delhi Municipal Advisory Council's March 12, 2026 agenda, a few lines above a bylaws update and a flier revision. It was easy to miss. It also ended a project that had moved its opening date more than once.
Shattuck Community Hall sits at 10078 Vincent Road. Merced County's plan for Delhi had two parts: a community center and a new park. The hall is finished and available. The County still hasn't found land for the park. As this holiday season starts, two addresses carry most of Delhi's indoor public life: the hall on Vincent Road and the library campus on Schendel Avenue.
How the hall got here
The money trail goes back to spring 2024. On April 23, 2024, the Merced County Board of Supervisors moved $500,000 in federal recovery funds away from a project called "Delhi Education Park Restrooms" and into "Delhi Shattuck Park Renovation." That shift is recorded in the County's 2025 Recovery Plan report. Money set aside for restrooms at the Education Park was redirected to Shattuck.
After that, the timeline kept shifting. County progress reports to the Board show the opening forecast moving as the work went on:
| County report | What it said about Shattuck | Target date given |
|---|---|---|
| June 2025 status report | Work in progress | Summer 2025 |
| September 2025 status report | Building constructed, contractor working on civil sitework | Open by December 2025 |
| December 2025 quarterly report | Building constructed, sitework underway, no land yet for a new park | July 1, 2026 |
| Delhi MAC agenda, March 12, 2026 | "Shattuck Hall is now available for rental" | — |
The building itself was ready earlier than that table suggests. In September 2025, Merced County announced a ribbon-cutting for the "newly renovated Shattuck Community Hall" at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 11, 2025, at the hall site in Delhi. Most of the waiting after that was for the site work around the building. Rentals opened about six months after the ribbon-cutting date, and nearly four months before the County's July 2026 target.
What the hall is already used for
The most regular use is the Delhi MAC itself. The council meets at Shattuck Community Hall on the second Thursday of each month at 6:00 p.m. Every meeting starts with standing reports from the Sheriff's Department, the California Highway Patrol, the Delhi Fire Department, the Merced County Supervisor, Public Works Roads, Community and Economic Development, the Delhi Water District and Delhi Unified School District.
After the standing reports comes a monthly community presentation. Since the hall opened for rentals, those have covered a wide range:
| Meeting | Community presentation |
|---|---|
| March 12, 2026 | Office of Emergency Services mitigation update |
| June 11, 2026 | CASA, and a community law clinic |
| August 13, 2026 | Cultiva Valle Central, and MCAG on bus transportation impacts for Delhi |
| September 10, 2026 | Probation Department |
| October 8, 2026 | No community presentation listed; regular monthly reports |
The August item about bus service is one many households will care about directly. Delhi sits along SR-99 between Turlock and Livingston, and changes to MCAG transit service affect anyone in town who gets around without a car.
Under the second-Thursday rule, the next meetings fall on November 12 and December 10, 2026, both at 6:00 p.m. You can ask to put an item on the agenda, but the request has to arrive one week before the meeting. Email [email protected] or call (209) 454-0236. Anyone who wants an item on the November 12 agenda should get the request in by November 5.
Asking about a booking
The hall became rentable just in time for the season when families look for a room big enough for a holiday dinner, a birthday or a quinceañera. The booking process isn't listed on any page dedicated to Shattuck yet, so here is the County's general route:
- Call Merced County Public Works, Parks and Recreation, at (209) 385-7426. Its park facilities FAQ lists that number for availability questions.
- Have a first and second choice of dates ready. The County's online reservation inquiry form asks for both. That form's facility menu lists Hagaman, Henderson and Winton Park but not Shattuck, so a phone call is the more direct way to ask about the hall.
- Ask about fees, deposits, capacity and kitchen access on the same call. The County keeps a facility fees page, but Shattuck's rates aren't posted there.
- If alcohol will be served, ask about insurance early. The County's park-facility guidance says anyone providing, selling or serving alcohol at a park facility must carry $1,000,000 in insurance naming Merced County as additionally insured, and it notes there may be more requirements.
That insurance rule is countywide guidance for park facilities. Parks and Recreation is the office that can say how it applies to a specific event at Shattuck. This post is general information, not legal or insurance advice, so please confirm the details for your own event with the County and your insurance provider.
The other half of the plan
The County listed this project as "Development of a park, including a community center for the benefit of Delhi residents." The hall covered the community center part. For the park, the December 2025 quarterly progress report to the Board said staff "has been unable to identify available property to build a new park, but will continue the search." That report set July 1, 2026 as its target date. The date has passed, and the County hasn't published a newer status on the Delhi park search.
Franklin-Beachwood, another community on the same County list, shows how far along a park can be by that stage. The same December report said its new park was under construction, with landscaping of the storm basin and a restroom still to finish, and gave an April 1, 2026 target. Franklin-Beachwood had land and was building on it. Delhi got its building, but its park is still waiting for land.
The money history adds one more detail. The County's April to June 2026 recovery-fund report still lists "Delhi Education Park" among the activities in its Community Facilities 3 category. That's the same category the $500,000 restroom money left in 2024. The report gives no separate amount or scope for Delhi. Anyone curious whether more work is coming to the school campus can ask the Supervisor's office for an update during a MAC meeting.
Schendel Avenue carries the rest of the week
With no new park yet, the other everyday public space in Delhi is 16881 Schendel Ave. Delhi High School and the McCandless Delhi Community Library share that address, and Delhi Unified calls the library "McCandless Library at the Ed Park." It serves students during the school day and is open to the public as a Merced County Library partner.
Public hours are longer than many people expect from a library on a school campus:
| Day | Public hours |
|---|---|
| Monday, Tuesday, Thursday | 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
| Wednesday | 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. |
| Friday | 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| Saturday | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. |
The library closes on federal holidays, so it will be closed on Veterans Day, November 11. During the school day, students use it from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Programming here leans toward adults as much as kids. Delhi Unified's calendar lists Merced College adult ESL and basic computer classes at the library on October 27 and 29. The County library brought in a free Library Puzzle Day for teens and adults on July 15, 2026, and a free adult junk journaling session on September 16. On November 10, the district calendar lists Harmony: Second Cup Coffee in Room A4 and a Kindness Rocks parent workshop at Hawk Haven at Delhi High.
If you're looking at the hall for a family celebration this season or just following how Delhi is changing, I'm glad to talk it through, in English or Spanish. I've been watching projects like Shattuck take shape across Merced County for more than twenty years. Martin Villanueva is a local call away. Schedule a Free Consultation.
