Visions are often years in the making, and it's no different for west central Little Rock, where residents have waited decades for a community center to house programs for youth and senior citizens and serve as a central place for recreation and events.
They finally got it Saturday.
Talks of funding for a community center in that area date back to the late 1990s, said Doris Wright, who represents Ward 6 on the city Board of Directors.
A $6.4 million center with a basketball court, locker rooms, a game room, fitness room, classrooms, banquet area and kitchen is now officially open at 4521 John Barrow Road. The center is on the 25-acre West Central Sports Complex, which includes softball and baseball fields.
In addition to the center's opening, Wright is launching a campaign to seek corporate donations to update the athletic fields, which she said haven't had infrastructure improvements since they were built in 1957. The campaign could include naming rights to the fields, she said. She also is starting a community "Buy a Brick" campaign that would fund an entryway to the complex.
While there's more work to be done -- including a second construction phase to the community center that will add a city-funded pool promised to voters when they approved a 2011 sales tax to fund the center -- the community is celebrating progress made thus far.
"This kind of goes back over 20 years to 1993, when I moved into this community," Wright said. "I joined the neighborhood association and learned it didn't have a community center -- no programs for kids, no city investment out here. It was difficult for us to get city funds to have programming for children because we didn't have a facility."
Wright and others worked for city-funded youth programs to take place in the area's schools and at nonprofits, but momentum really began when the Rosedale Optimist Club sold its 17-acre ballpark to the city for $1 in 2004.
Since then, more land has been deeded to the city, and the complex has grown. Sports programs have grown from a few teams to almost 100, and more than 1,200 youths participated in baseball and softball leagues this season.
"It's been a long road since we have given the park and land to them," Optimist Club President Lori Hudman said. "The community is excited we got a building and they finally see something there, and it isn't just saying, 'Yeah, we are going to do this.' Now it's here!"
After funding was secured with the 2011 sales tax, construction on the West Central Community Center began in April 2015.
Its doors opened Saturday at 9 a.m. Opening day activities included basketball games, football games, a video game tournament, Zumba and yoga demonstrations, a cheerleading competition and a performance by the Original Little Rock Steppers.
Along with the opening of the center comes the start of a new neighborhood low-power radio station -- KWCP-FM 98.9. The "WCP" stands for West Central Pride.
It's a neighborhood and city partnership geared toward students and youths.
"Any older person can have a show, too, but it is really meant to bring in young people and interest them in radio broadcasting, in an attempt to distract them from any negative activity out there," Wright said. "We're trying to be innovative, not just be a building sitting out here with people doing things. We are trying to be vibrant with robust programming where we can interest people in getting involved."
In addition to youth programming, the center will house an activity center for people age 55 and older. There also are classrooms where various clubs can meet and a commercial kitchen and banquet facilities for hosting events.
The community center is meant to serve Ward 6, which encompasses the John Barrow, Twin Lakes, Campus Place, and Brownwood Terrace neighborhoods. It includes neighborhoods east of Woodlands Trail to University Avenue and south of Markham Street, Mara Lynn Drive and Kanis Road to Colonel Glenn Road.
Metro on 11/13/2016