Lack of funds delays Center

The prospective opening for the new Takoma Park Community Center (TPCC) has been postponed from October 2004 to late spring 2005 because of a lack of funds and construction problems, according to Takoma Park City officials.

The city still does not have the necessary $430,000 for the building to open in late spring 2005, said Ward 3 Council Member Bruce Williams. Additional funds are essential to furnishing the community center, but there are no definite sources for the necessary revenue to complete construction, nor to furnish the building, according to City Manager Barbara Matthews.

Because of the revenue shortage, construction cannot begin as planned on a large modern gymnasium, a feature Takoma Park citizens widely advocated, said city officials. Due to the lack of funds, the community center will not have the highly-anticipated section of the Victorian-style façade that would have wrapped around the Takoma Park Library.

The loss of the gymnasium disappointed junior Sam Morris because the city's church and school gyms are usually in use, he said, and he and his friends often have trouble finding a place to play sports.

The lack of funds arose in part from the discovery of a 100-year flood-plain, an area where there is a chance of serious flooding once every 100 years, on the site of construction at the corner of Philadelphia and Maple Avenues where the current Municipal Building is located, said city officials. The city, forced to comply with Montgomery County regulations, spent an unexpected $1 million to meet flood-plain engineering requirements.

The previous City Council's decision to build the TPCC without all the necessary funds also contributed to the revenue shortage: The Council made the decision in 2000, a time of relative economic prosperity, explained Larry Rubin, a former City Council member. "There was absolutely no idea whatsoever that we'd have to make a cutback," he said in reference to the gym.

Despite the loss of funds, the TPCC will still include offices for city officials; an art room with a kiln; separate rooms for teens and senior citizens with tabletop games; general meeting spaces; and a spacious, four-room computer lab, according to Recreation Department Director Debra Haiduven.

Although Blazers who live in the Takoma Park area said they would use the TPCC's new features, some of them were discontent with the city's efforts. Senior Heather Baker expressed frustration with the slow pace of construction and its unattractive appearance. "I'm glad that it's being fixed up, but I think it needs to be done quicker," she said.

Some Takoma Park Blazers, however, remained unaware of both the new features the TPCC would include and of the postponed opening. Senior Sayda Cruz-Abreu, who did not know the TPCC was being built, worried that the lack of information could be a source of the fund shortage. "When [the city government] needs community support, the community isn't advised and can't say whether or not it wants certain features," she said.