Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke wants a bigger and better Youth and Family Development center for Avondale.
Last week, Berke shared details with a gathering of residents and officials at the center, stating he was willing to put $6 million toward building a brand-new facility that would double the square footage of the current site. The current center at the corner of Wilcox Boulevard and Dodson Avenue was built in 1949, and its last major renovation was in 2002.
"We're more focused than ever before on making sure that young people in our communities succeed and that learning is a huge part of their lives," Berke said. "We are investing in Avondale because we believe in Avondale."
Chattanooga's Youth and Family Development centers provide educational, recreational, leadership development and social service opportunities, and make use of local, state and federal resources.
Plans are for the new center to open in fall 2017, and its funding will be in the 2016-2017 budget proposal.
Avondale neighborhood leader James Moreland said he sees opportunities opening up.
"I tell you we are in a zone now where we, as a community, will have to take a greater role in how our community functions and how we raise our kids," he said. "I am excited that we will have a facility that will allow us to do a greater job of that."
Berke said the enlarged floor plan will allow the center to host youth and senior programs at the same time, instead of having to choose one or the other.
The Avondale center's replacement has been under discussion for about a year and calls for a larger gymnasium with bleachers, a computer lab, multiple classrooms and a library and reading lab, the mayor said. Outdoor renovations include improved basketball courts and larger softball fields.
City Council Chairman Moses Freeman, who represents Avondale, members of the community and center managers were part of that conversation, Berke said. They told him that the center needed more than another facelift.
Calls to expand the Avondale center "fell on deaf ears" with previous mayors, Freeman said, but the new center signifies "a new beginning" for the neighborhood.
"This is a great day for all of us here," he said. "You can't imagine all the opportunities we're all going to have here."
Antonio Boston, who has been coming to the center since he was 9 years old and has volunteered there for 27 years, said the new center has been a long time coming.
"It will be a great move, but it should have happened sooner," said Boston, citing money he felt was wasted in patching up the center over the last 10 years.
Councilmen Yusuf Hakeem and Ken Smith, who both attended the announcement at the Avondale center, said they were not aware of the proposal until Berke addressed the crowd. Both agreed that community members have wanted a new facility for quite some time.
"It's been long needed and it does give an indication that the city government is showing attention to some parts of the inner city," Hakeem said. "You have great people in this community who asked for and worked for a new center for at least 20 years."
Smith said he was eager to see the plan details in the budget proposal, which is scheduled to be presented to the City Council on May 17.
"This community has been asking for something like this to show them that we truly do believe in them, and this is a great way to start," he said. "I wish it would have been done a long time ago, and it probably could have been [done] in the last few years. At least now it's finally on the radar, and I look forward to bringing that promise to fruition."
Berke's announcement comes just two days after a fiery speech by Kevin Muhammad on behalf of a coalition of concerned citizen groups that called for alternatives to the mayor's plan to spend $1 million in additional funds on public safety cameras over the next two years. The address, which was given in a packed City Council meeting, was highly critical of the city's handling of gang violence and its investment in the "poor and disenfranchised."
Berke said the Avondale center overhaul is only one part of many community investments made by the city, citing the recent improvements to nearby Wilcox Tunnel and ongoing discussions on how best to reuse the demolished Harriet Tubman housing site. Youth and Family Development centers across the city are receiving a mixture of gym floor renovations, improved lighting and security cameras.
"There are numerous efforts underway to improve the fortunes of those who live in East Chattanooga and Avondale, and we'll continue to find ways to make this neighborhood and the rest around the city a better place to live," Berke said.
Contact Paul Leach at pleach@timesfreepress.com or 757-6481.