The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
Local funeral home owner Carlos A. Howard said 28 Park Place-area children he's buried since the neighborhood's Colonial Boys & Girls Club building closed would be alive if the club hadn't been shuttered about 10 years ago.
That belief and a passion to provide opportunities for Park Place kids has kept him fighting for years for a safe place for them to play and learn outside of school, he said.
Earlier this year, Howard said, he and concerned citizens formed a limited liability company, The Park Place Youth Center, to acquire the club's former site at 2607 Colonial Ave.
Howard said Friday that he and others met with City Manager Marcus Jones to discuss a proposal requesting $1.5 million in federal money to help re-establish the facility as a youth center.
The proposal asks for the money to be spent over five years, by which point the center could be self-sustaining, Howard said.
He said the group plans to present a full proposal to Jones soon.
City spokesman Bob Batcher answered questions on Jones' behalf in an email Friday after the meeting.
"This is one of many opportunities facing the community for supporting the youth of Park Place," Batcher wrote, "and it needs to be put on the table while developing priorities for the City."
Howard and others have been fighting for years to reopen the site of the old Boys & Girls Club for the neighborhood's children. Earlier this month, he and many others, including children, appeared before the City Council to state their case.
The story goes back to the early 2000s.
Then, businessmen Richard Levin, a former member of the youth club, and Doug Ricks bought the property for about $300,000 from the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Hampton Roads. That organization moved the club out of the building, citing costly repairs and renovations. The club had served about 1,000 children.
Ricks and Levin renovated the building after acquiring it with hopes of returning it to the community's children. The city expressed an interest in helping to reopen it, and at one point city leaders talked about leasing the site and then subleasing it to nonprofits. Officials said they couldn't get commitments.
In 2003, the City Council negotiated to rent out half of the facility, but Levin and Ricks declined because the city wanted them to pay full real estate taxes and utilities, Levin said at the time.
Howard contends the youths of Park Place, a community with about 870 children and a median household income of about $25,000, according to census data, have nowhere to go. He has questioned the city's sincerity in helping to provide them with a safe haven.
"They are looking at the bottom line - all this conversation about opening the Y, as opposed to opening this facility for these children," he said.
The City Council last month postponed a vote on whether to contribute $925,000 to a YMCA and day care center in Park Place.
Councilwoman Theresa Whibley said it's a misconception that "there is nothing for kids to do" in Park Place and said the neighborhood has made great strides. She also said the YMCA and the old Colonial club site "are two totally separate issues," but they are being made out as an "an either/or proposition."
In an email, Park Place resident Rodney Jordan said he's disappointed "that the backers behind the youth project at the former Boys & Girls Club site have chosen to pit their effort against other community efforts and to attempt to divide the community into believing we must choose one project over another."
Among other things, Jordan cited the Park Place Community Center and the neighborhood library's children's zone as options for children.
When asked about Howard's and other people's desires to reopen the Colonial site, Vice Mayor Anthony L. Burfoot reflected on the children he saw accompanying Howard at the recent council meeting.
"These kids came down there, they were crying out to us that they wanted somewhere to go other than the streets," Burfoot said.
He said he's open to learning more about the proposal, but he refuses "to let the Boys & Girls Club and the YMCA be the distraction, when the conversation is truly about these young people."
Pilot reporters Meghan Hoyer and Harry Minium contributed to this report.
Cheryl Ross, (757) 446-2443, cheryl.ross@pilotonline.com
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when it comes to our children
When it comes to our (your) children we need to do all we can to ensure their education and places to keep them off the streets expecially in our cities. This building has been sitting vacant for 10 years, is begimmng to look like the devil, and I know Richard Levin could care less.
This boys and girls club should NEVER been closed.
Brass Beds?
We need to remember Richard Levine owns blocks of real estate around this area like a monopoly master. He is very influential with city leader's behind the scenes. He managed to steal this property for $300,000 and I am confident he was not thinking about the children of Park Place when he bought the site. This club has been left neglected and vacant. It has been an eyesore in the area for the past 10 years. Even when a car crashed into the sign out front over 5 years ago -- it has still not been repaired. Paint peeling-- overgrown grass -- broken bottles-- litter etc etc etc. Now comes along a bunch of free possible dollars from the city or feds, and the YMCA competing with his investment -- all of a sudden this is a huge interest to reopen
hhhmmm-- very interesting
Before I went to bed late last night, this article was just a sidenote at the bottom of the local news. Now over 24 hours later, it is posted right up front with a large photo like a brand new lead story. I guess there was not enough other news that occurred during this ol boring Monday to bump the story down the list. Instead, it grew. Curious who is driving this thing.
just give the park
that was put in denby park.that is a good example of wasted money.the ccity put it in even after all the residents told them it was a bad idea now look whats happening.just move it all to park place and just maybe the gangbangers that took over at dendy will go on down and then we can hear the crying about it from them.
just give the park
that was put in denby park.that is a good example of wasted money.the ccity put it in even after all the residents told them it was a bad idea now look whats happening.just move it all to park place and just maybe the gangbangers that took over at dendy will go on down and then we can hear the crying about it from them.
It costs $40,000 a year to house a prisoner
It costs $40,000 a year to house a prisoner. It is cheaper to educate than incarcerate. Spend the money.
And the schools?
We are already spending a fortune on a school system to do that.
Spend the money? What money? What part of " we are broke " is that difficult to understand?
$100,000
Maybe Mr. Howard will donate the first $100,000. Then, others will donate. Stop depending on the Federal Government and taxpayers.
Been there ... done that ...
I attended numerous fundraising events organized to keep the Boy's & Girl's Club open back in the day and stroked more than a few checks to help to do so. It was closed for a reason. The community (Park Place residents) did not support it. It cannot sustain itself. Even with large contributions from outside of Park Place. End of story.
What's wrong?
How can this be such a bad idea. It is giving young people a place to go other than the streets. With a murder rate as high as that of Park Place, the city should try a lot harder to improve this community. If Howard wants to try and run this place in a way that is similar to the Y, than more power to him. The city of Norfolk needs to give him this loan. This is a cheaper way to remedy some of the problems that the city needs to fix. If this center will try to keep kids on the straight and narrow in a neighborhood with plenty of bad influence, than Norfolk needs to support it.