Staff Photo by Angela Lewis/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Ed Gravitte wants the old Hixson Middle School to be used as a recreation center.Hixson residents pay taxes just like every other resident of Chattanooga, but none of the city’s 15 recreation centers is located in that area, a longtime resident says.
“We only request that some of the tax funds that the Hixson community is already paying be reinvested in this community instead of all the facilities south of the river,” said Hixson resident Ed Gravitte.
Gravitte is among several Hixson residents planning to attend the last meeting about a proposal to convert the old Hixson Middle School into a community recreation center and senior citizens’ facility. The meeting is set for Thursday.
Residents also ask that the building be used as a local police precinct and a community meeting place with a park and walking track.
Larry Zehnder, the city’s director of parks and recreation, said city officials are conducting studies on the cost of a recreation center in Hixson.
IF YOU GO* What: Hixson recreation center planning meeting* When: 7 p.m. Thursday* Where: Hixson United Methodist Church, 5301 Old Hixson Pike
Recreation centers initially were put in inner-city communities because those residents didn’t have as much access to private facilities.
The city has spent about $100,000 to seal up Hixson Middle to prevent damage, to conduct the planning meetings and to pay for an architect to draw up plans for building renovations, said Councilwoman Pam Ladd, who represents a portion of the Hixson area.
Residents may see some work begin in the gym of the old middle school within the next year, Ladd said. Some parts of the building must be demolished when funding is available, she said.
She understands the frustration of residents who have been waiting and working years for a center, but it wasn’t until 2009 that the school closed, she said.
The school system and the city didn’t reach an agreement for the school to transfer the property until early 2010.
Gravitte said the city should sell the North River Civic Center that it bought for about $700,000 in 2002 and use the proceeds to renovate the old school.
Zehnder said he has heard that idea before and is taking it into consideration, but his immediate goal is to get the final master plan and cost of renovating the school.
At age 81, Gravitte said he would like to see the center open in his lifetime.
“If they don’t open that gym to us, I won’t be able to play basketball for many more years.”
Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepreess.com or 423-757-6340.