CLEVELAND, Tenn. – A multiyear project to renovate an East Cleveland community center is nearing a milestone.
Construction at the Northeast Recreation Center has included overhauling its historic gymnasium, adding space for offices and after-school activities, outdoor basketball courts at the adjacent park, a splash park at the pool, new playground equipment and fresh paint inside.
Outside, the major work was transforming an aging athletic field into a bright, grassy and landscaped place for sports and outdoor community events.
The U.S. Census Bureau designated Cleveland as a federal metropolitan statistical area after the 2000 census. The city has received funds from the Community Development Block Grant program each year since 2005. The grant can be used to make improvements in low-income neighborhoods.
The city has spent more than $364,000 of that annual federal grant for the Northeast Recreation Center, city CDBG director Teresa Torbett said.
The project will end on schedule in September, said Patti Petitt, city parks and recreation director.
The center is on the site of College Hill, founded in 1893 as a school for African-American children from several surrounding counties. It closed in 1966 as part of a desegregation plan. Purple and gold, the school colors, are echoed in the renovated building.
“When people come in and see the purple and gold, they always say ‘Yes, this is how it was,'” said Terese Curry, supervisor of the center for the past year.
“I think what is going on here is making us a more diverse community,” Curry said. “When the splash park was installed, many people came by here just to say how much kids love it. When the gym is reopened we expect even more use.”
An earlier phase of the project, about five years ago, transformed the outdoor athletic field. Since then the center has added football teams in five age groups, attracting about 125 boys this year. A cheerleading program has 33 girls this fall.
On Thursday, the boys and girls and volunteer coaches were all on the field for practice, with parents lining the sidelines. Last year two center teams won the “Super Bowl” for their divisions in the Chattanooga-based River City Youth Football League. Games are on Saturdays, and the first home games this year are Sept. 18.