Bob Saylors talks about plans for the old Hixson Middle School building that the city of Chattanooga recently acquired.
Ed Gravitte wants the old Hixson Middle School to be used as a recreation center.At age 81, Ed Gravitte admonished city officials to get to work on plans to convert the old Hixson Middle School into a recreation center while he still is fit enough to play basketball in it.
But nearly a year later, Hixson residents still are waiting to use the center, said the retired businessman, who will turn 82 in January.
"It's been discouraging that the city has just drug their feet with this," Gravitte said.
He and several Hixson residents had expected the center to be open to the public by this fall.
The city's director of parks, Bob Saylors, advises residents not to get discouraged and said the center probably will open around the first of the year.
He said maintenance officials still are searching for asbestos and assessing whether the building is accessible to the handicapped.
By spring, the recreation center will be fully staffed and the unused portion of the old middle school will be demolished, if all goes according to plan, Saylors said.
District 3 City Councilwoman Pam Ladd, who represents the area, said the city is waiting for the architect's structural analysis. She said the city will host a driver's education class at the building in the future.
Saylors said the delay is because limited money means the city is using its own employees to do the work while also keeping up with other projects, rather than hiring contractors.
Nearly $1 million has been allocated for the project, but a lot of that will be used for demolition and renovation, Saylors said.
The goal is for the Hixson Recreation Center to have ongoing activities for every age group from seniors to preschoolers. The classes will include arts and crafts, music, computers and dance, Saylors said.
"It's not just a basketball court and a gym," he said. "There should be indoor soccer for little kids, volleyball and after-school camps."
Saylors estimates that at least 1,000 people a month may visit the center when it is in full operation.
Gravitte said very few of the city's 16 recreation centers are in the Hixson area. He said the rec center was among the first things residents asked for when a committee formed a 20-year plan for Hixson in 2002.
It was suppose to be for teens and seniors, with a walking track and a meeting room for civic clubs.
Gravitte said the school board gave the school to the city last year but not much has happened yet.
"They gave it to the city with the stipulation that it be made into a new community center, but the [city] has just dropped the ball," Gravitte said.