Unless a deep-pocketed benefactor steps forward, Colorado Springs’ community centers are closing in March.
It will be devastating to the immediate neighborhoods losing their community centers: Deerfield Hills, Hillside, Stratton Meadows and the Westside.
In addition, the city, as a whole, will suffer. In 2008, the city’s community centers had 237,319 visits. This year, Deerfield Hills expects to finish with 75,000 visits alone.
Community centers are the heart and soul of their neighborhoods.
They are places seniors get hot lunches and enjoy a variety of programs.
They offer low-income parents an affordable option for preschool and day care services.
The centers with their rec rooms, gyms and televisions provide a place for school-age kids to stay after school, and for teens to drop in rather than roam the streets.
Below is a photo of Deerfield Hills from Google’s Street View map program. On the right is the community garden. Behind the building is the sprayground.
Deerfield Hills was built as a private clubhouse and swimming pool for the surrounding subdivision. The city bought it in the 1970s and it became Colorado Springs’ first true community center.
The swimming pool failed and was closed in 2003, replaced three years ago by a popular spray ground. Here’s a look at the spray ground in a 2007 Gazette photo:
Want to know more about what the city is losing? There are brochures online at www.SpringsGov.com that explain all the programs.
Here’s a link for the West Center brochure.
Here’s a link to the brochure for the southeast centers, including Hillside and Deerfield Hills. Two others, Otis Park and Sand Creek, will close.
Click here to see the Meadows Park brochure.
It’s not too late to help. The centers are conducting fundraising drives. They are soliciting donors and partners and volunteers. To adopt a center, there is an online form available.
Want to help? Got questions? Call Brian Kates, director at Meadows Park, at 385-7942.
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CLOSING COMMUNITY CENTERS: neighborhoods lose their souls is a post from: Side Streets