VIRGINIA BEACH
The long-promised recreation center for Lake Edward isn't for Lake Edward at all, some community leaders say.
"Don't sell this to me as the answer to Lake Edward's problem with teenagers in the community, to our problems with gang members," the Rev. Joe Flores said. "This is not going to solve those problems."
The issue, Flores and others in Lake Edward say, is that the proposed West Bayside Community Center - the second city recreation center that would serve Bayside - is too far away.
Lake Edward is an area of the city roughly bounded by Norfolk to the west, Northampton Boulevard to the north, Newtown and Diamond Springs roads to the east and Baker Road to the south. It's an area with high poverty levels, a high rate of teen pregnancy and a high crime rate.
In the evening, packs of teenagers roam the streets. Playgrounds are the alleys behind apartment complexes. The nearest recreation center, Bayside, is about six miles away. Community leaders say that's a big part of the problem.
"The whole reason this idea of a recreation center came to the attention of the city is because, for the past 15 to 20 years, people who live in our community have been requesting it," said Flores, pastor of Perfecting Saints Worship Center on Baker Road.
"It was the full expectation of people in this community that the center would be as close to Lake Edward as it could be," Flores said.
"Well, the city chose not to do that."
When the proposed location for a 60,000-square-foot facility was revealed, on a 90-acre site off Newtown Road called the Williams Farm, it was still put forth as Lake Edward's recreation center.
"The primary purpose is to serve the Lake Edward community and surrounding neighborhoods," city spokeswoman Mary Hancock said.
City Manager Jim Spore offers a slightly different take: "This center wasn't designed to be just a Lake Edward center. It's for the whole west side of the district."
Spore said there isn't enough available land in Lake Edward for a campus to rival the Williams Farm lot.
The proposed rec center campus, still in the design stages and at least five years from being completed, would share space with other municipal facilities.
It is about a mile away from the closest reaches of Lake Edward, city leaders concede. And a 30-minute walk, Flores said.
The walking distance is important, Flores said, because many teens won't have a ride to the recreation center and they are unlikely to walk for other reasons that transcend distance: fear of harassment by police, fear of being jumped by gangs. And they won't go for the high profile of a shuttle service.
Essie Lindsey, a Lake Edward resident and member of the recreation center's steering committee, said she had been reassured the site would serve Lake Edward.
"I have no idea why they would choose this location," Lindsey said. "Why wouldn't they consider the area they want to serve?"
Dozens of Lake Edward residents put in an angry showing at a city-hosted meeting held April 9 at Flores' worship center, voicing their displeasure at the proposed location. The neighborhood teens have no facility to serve them, they said.
"The proposal they have is six or seven years down the road," said Carl Wright, president of the Virginia Beach African-American Political Action Council. "We are proposing the city do something now."
"Between now and seven years down the road, how many kids will be lost?"
Flores would like his three-year-old Newtown Cultural Life Center - housed in the same building as his church - to fill the void. There, in a former bingo hall, Flores hosts community programs, including teen nights and after-school programs.
He has grander plans but lacks the money to execute them.
"We're willing to do the heavy lifting," Flores said, if the city will provide funding.
But Spore said there's no funding available for an alternate center. The city has accepted bids from the YMCA, NAACP and Salvation Army in addition to Flores' plan, but none of the plans appears in Spore's budget recommendations for the upcoming year.
As the city forges ahead with design plans on the West Bayside Recreation Center, Spore dismissed the suggestion of another center later, in Lake Edward.
"This would be it," Spore said of the Bayside site.
John Warren, (757) 222-5114, john.warren@pilotonline.com
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RE: The selected site for the
"Inadequate parenting plays a part in any city's problem, that's not news. But what we must do here is not deal with how we wish things were, but how they really are and how can we most immediately address them."
Once again the bleeding heart syndrome roars. So nevermind that crowds of these kids are disrespectful, do not attend school, and have no drive to seek employment or further themselves. Lets just say its OK. By the way heres a Recreation Center for all your hard work making yourself into a model citizen. Again, why do the people who raise their children to be respectful and law abiding have to accept that these deadbeat parents and unruly children should be handed something for nothing. I guess I should enlist the children in our neighborhood to form gangs, destroy property and steal. Maybe then we can get a community pool, Rec Center, and maybe I will lobby for a Golf Course as well. Bottom line is I grew up in low income housing and was taught to pull myself up by the boot straps and EARN what I wanted out of life. So I am sorry if you want me to feel bad for this neighborhood not getting a Rec Center where they wanted it.
The selected site for the
The selected site for the new community rec center would not seem so off-putting if Virginia Beach had paid any attention at all to any requests to alleviate any problems involving or affecting the Newtown-Baker Corridor. With a history of ignoring the cries of this constituency, it feels like yet another "we'll see what we can do" gesture. Inadequate parenting plays a part in any city's problem, that's not news. But what we must do here is not deal with how we wish things were, but how they really are and how can we most immediately address them. The headline of the article reads "Beach activist's wishes a far cry from what city CAN deliver". I beg to differ == it should read ">. . . WILL deliver". The article seemed to say that the city can't. I believe it just WON'T!! Why does it take an activist? Shouldn't someone who is already on the city council be fighting for this community instead of wishing it would go away?
Tired of footing the bill...
Why is it that hard working law abiding citizens are expected to foot the bill for people who have no intention of bettering themselves or their children. The constant abuse of public funding has left a bitter taste for those footing the bill. For far to long the excuse of poverty has been used as a means to squander opportunities. The children in these neighborhoods are left to idolize drug dealers, gang members, and gangster rap musicians not 9 - 5 hard working people or religous and cultural leaders. To save these children the message must start at home. The more money that is wasted with Title 1 educational programs and Civic Centers the more the public will be outraged by the spending. Look at the comments on this page, most feel it is wasted money. Not because they do not care but because the do not care for the results. Perhaps someone should propose some parenting classes for these families to teach them that their children shouldn't be allowed to just roam the streets looking for trouble - idol hands and all.
Ready for a shock?
I'm with the city on this one! I lived in Lynbrook Landing, across the street from Lake Edward and I am extremely familiar with all the areas on the featured map. The location of this rec center will be basically across the street and a few blocks from Lake Edward, right where most of those children go to school. The walk won't be a problem because the majority of the distance will be through a much safer area than Lake Edward. If anything, the people in between Lake Edward and the rec should be worried about the crime that will be brought with the children and teens trekking through their neighborhood to get to and from it. These people complaining are just being lazy and demanding too much. A very good location was chosen for this rec center.
When do you get your center?
That is a very selfish comment. The purpose of this center is not to make one neighborhood better than another. It's to help curtail the criminal activity that is highly concentrated in this area, to give teenagers a safe place to engage in constructive activities. Everyone can't be served at the same time, but it can and has to start somewhere, and that should be in the places that demand the greatest amount of attention. Obviously the neighborhood is active in voicing their concerns about the location and making sure that this center will serve their needs the way they were promised. If your neighborhood is just as bad, I hope it can unite to voice its concerns in a similar fashion. If it is not as bad, then why are you complaining? Would you sacrifice your increased sense of security just to be able to claim this center? The young members of this community didn't ask to be born and raised in impoverished neighborhoods. They deserve better and it should start here.
Limo's for all
Maybe the City should pay to have limo's pick up your kids and take them to the rec center. I'm not even sure why the City feels it HAS to build a rec center. What about the Y? or an after school activity? or maybe make them get a job. I know this sounds crazy - but maybe the parents could take an interest in what their kids do. I guess it is too much to ask a kid to walk 30 minutes. I am sure a 10 minute bike ride would be way too much to ask.
Maybe Krispy Kreme could supply the limos with delicious donuts.
To all the whiners...
Save your own kids. It is not up the teachers and the city to raise your kids. It is not up to them to entertain them or to provide activities. It is YOUR job as a parent.
Ask any successful parent of a child that was raised in sub standard conditions...and they will tell you that YES, their kids could have been a statistic, but they made sure they were not.
LOVE your children enough to raise them above all else. Get them involved.
"The kids won't walk that far because...(fill in the above lame excuses here)." Get a bike. Be a good example and walk with your kids. Hey, poor teens with nobody to take care of you...get a JOB and save up for a car or a bike or a bus ticket. Play after school sports or join a club. This isn't rocket science...it is raising children which for some folks seems like they would rather have anyone raise their kids but them.
Before you all say "you don't know how it is"...
I grew up there. I walked farther than that to school to be in ROTC at PAHS in all weather. I bought my own bike, then a car. We were broke. I got a scholarship. My parents both worked. As a family we made it work.
Ok,,,when?
So when does my area get a center? The closest is five mile away. Why does Lake Edward get one and the other neighborhoods don't? I agree that if you are going to build a center for a specific location, then it should be near that location. Who is causing the crime out there?
As for the comments about the police, take a walk in their shoes and see what really happens out there. They do their job, exactly within the law and how they are supposed to and people like Mr. Bailey accuse them of misconduct just because they don't like the outcome.
where are the parents?
I grew up in Portsmouth in a very modest middle income neighborhood. As kids, we played in the streets and yards. We never had a community center. There was no pool or basketball court. We made due with what we had. There were no gang beatings, high pregnancy rates, or unchecked crime. What we did have were parents that did not tolerate abhorant behavior. Everyone knew everyone and a quick phone call was placed to report any unsavory act. I do recall centers constructed in other poorer(?) neighborhoods. These were suppose to serve the youth and keep them off the street, out of gangs, etc. It didn't work. The problem is and will continue to be the lack of PARENTAL involvement. No amount of money and construction will replace this! I'm not siding with VAB's choice of location either way. If VAB were to build it dead center of Lake Edward the problems that exist would not go away. Parents need to get involved. Parents need to be intolerant of the thug dress code and mentality that feeds the problem. It is the PARENT's responsibility to raise their offspring, not the community, not the school system, not social services, not the other taxpayers!
Parenting
The key to keeping kids off the streets is parents, preferably two parents at home. A brick building built by the government does not create good kids -- parents do.
ONLY a mile away? tsk tsk
I'm sorry, but the city is willing to put a SECOND rec center in the same basic area, and its a mile from where THEY wanted it? Sorry...no tears here. Even when I lived in a rather affluent part of town the best one was 3 miles down the road. I now live within walking distance of the seatac center, and it is so incredibly crowded...and they're complaining about a second one??? give me a break. The reason they won't put one where they want it is because the police have done as much as they can ...its up to the community to police itself...ALONGSIDE with the police to get the drugs and crime out of thier neighborhood. Report the crimes, call 911 when you see illegal activities, Ocean View has cleaned up its act, for the most part...you can do the same...it was the everyday joe, out there with citizen patrols and video cameras that got the less desireable elemnt out of the majority of Ocean View...you can do it too...
Let's be real
The real problem isn't the fact that the recreation center would more than a mile away from lake edwards, the real problem is that this like the gang problem could be solved with PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT. Most of the lazy parents in the lake edwards low income area DO NOT PROPERLY SUPERVISE their kids and just let them run the streets for the police to deal with. If these kids had a homelife with love and support at home then a gang would not have to be there for them to feel that they are wanted for something besides a walfare check. People sometimes the truth hurts Gangs are offering our children what they are not recieving at home, a place to feel wanted and respected. Get these needs met at home and the gangs lose and move to area with the dispare and need to meet these needs. Wake up parents before it is to late and take care of these gifts god's given you before the gangs do and death from the violance follows. This is what causes most shootings with cops.
Continued
I recognize that the majority of law enforcement officers strive, often under dangerous and demanding circumstances, to carry out their duties in a restrained, lawful and professional manner. Despite this, the Hampton Roads Area has a growing crisis of police misconduct. Citizens want to feel secure that police officers are in the community to serve and protect all citizens of that community. Lake Edwards needs a Community Center Now. The Newtown Cultural Life Center is a prime example of community leaders bridging the gap and they deserve our support not competition. Pastor Joe Flores has done a great job of maintaining harmony by taking up the slack. I ask you to join me in contacting the Mayor and City Manager to support the Newtown Cultural Life Center because it is the right thing to do. I will also demand that the NAACP withdraw any such competing bids as described in this article.
“The city has accepted bids from the YMCA, NAACP and Salvation Army in addition to Flores' plan, but none of the plans appears in Spore's budget recommendations for the upcoming year.”
This Is Insulting To the Community
James Bailey, NAACP
Vice President (Virginia Beach Branch)
Respect The People's Voice In The Community
I am very saddened that the Community Center will not be closer to the communities surrounding Lake Edwards Area. These communities are grossly underserved by the city and that needs to be corrected. Lack of an active and eventful center creates disharmony between law enforcement and the young people as has been evidenced by the strands of violence. We need more harmony in the community, in fact we need a voice in the community. The police should not "appear" to be our enemy.
I recognize that the majority of law enforcement officers strive, often under dangerous and demanding circumstances, to carry out their duties in a restrained, lawful and professional manner. Despite this, the Hampton Roads Area has a growing crisis of police misconduct. Citizens want to feel secure that police officers are in the community to serve and protect all citizens of that community. Lake Edwards needs a Community Center Now. The Newtown Cultural Life Center is a prime example of community leaders bridging the gap and they deserve our support not competition. I will be contacting the Mayor and City Manager to support the Newtown Cultural Life Center because it is the right thing to do and I will a