Rosenwald Center reopens its doors to community
26th October 2015 · 0 Comments
By Ivory Bibbins
Contributing Writer
It took 10 years after Hurricane Katrina, but the B.W. Cooper community, now called the Marrero Commons, has a public center. The new Rosenwald Recreation Center located at 1120 South Broad St. stands as a sign of recovery for residents that had long waited to rebuild relations among returning residents. After being torn down in 2013 due to Katrina’s damages, the center reopened on October 20, 2015, with a commemorating ribbon ceremony attended by Mayor Mitch Landrieu, local officials, and representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“Once again, our young people have a safe place to grow, learn, and play and I encourage New Orleanians of all ages to take advantage of it and all the valuable resources it will offer,” said Mayor Mitch Landrieu in an official statement on the center’s opening.
Ten years after Hurricane Katrina resulting in the breaking of levees that inundated the city with flood waters, Rosenwald
Center reopens its doors last week. At left, a resident of the Marrero Commons Commons tries out its new basketball court.
Residents began using the center immediately after the opening the next day.
“It’s a beautiful thing for the neighborhood. Keep a lot of youth out of trouble,” said Jeffery Self, 25, who resides nearby at the Marrero Commons. “[It] gives people something to do no matter what age, young or old.”
Residents like Self, a medical assistant student at Cameron College, said they felt the new recreation center would benefit the community for events such as the Booker T. Washington High School reunion, dances for local high schools, and midnight basketball.
“I was surprised to see neighbors I didn’t even know I had,” said Self.
The community needed a central place to reconnect and engage in positive activities like sports and social groups, residents said. According to many, it lacked a sound meeting space.
“It’s the first step to getting back together. Hopefully bring some positivity back to the neighborhood,” says 59-year-old Wanda Green.
Patricia Watson, 58, explains that before the center was torn down, it was a part of the community for a least 38 years since she first moved into the neighborhood. She noted that before Katrina, the recreation center was merely only a gym with a stage and a pool.
According to the mayor’s office, The Rosenwald Recreation Center is now a two-story facility with over 15,000 square feet of space. The center features an indoor basketball court and stage, a multi-purpose sports field, a weight room, snack bar, and several rooms for additional activities such as live public meetings, dancing, music, pottery, arts and sewing. The center is also equipped with energy-efficient lighting and a high-efficiency thermostat to cut unnecessary energy costs.
“Sometimes change is good,” Self said, as he noted the additional services that can now be provided at the center.
According to NORDC, the center cost $8.5 million to rebuild. FEMA funds were used to build the center, along with insurance claims on the original building and city bonds. An additional $1.8 million will be used to start construction next month on the pool and pool house for the center. The pool and pool house center is anticipated to open before summer programs begin in June 2016.
“After Katrina, glad they gave us our gym back,” Self said, adding that the need for the community center for the African-American community was one that had been ignored in the past 10 years. The center is also staffed by the NORDC and is open to the public. Frequent visitors are encouraged to get a NORDC card, which is used to track the amount of people who use the center. The center is open for public use from Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, residents can visit the NORDC website at www.nordc.org.
This article originally published in the October 26, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
