THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 2, 1996 TAG: 9604300165
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT McCASKEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
Originally the focus of a dispute between a church and a civic league, a new community center is officially on its way.
After a special service, the congregation of the New Hope Church of God In Christ and members of the Fairmount Park Civic League marched across the street to the future site of the New Hope Christian Center at a vacant lot at Brest and Pershing avenues.
Held Saturday afternoon, the event was a procession of smiles.
``It's a joyous occasion,'' said church member Faith Miller Bracy. ``This center will mean a whole lot for poor and needy people.''
The planned 7,000-square-foot, $500,000 facility will provide a variety of support services and activities for the community's underprivileged, youth and elderly, including three hot meals a day, tutoring, food drives, civic projects, education classes and counseling and guidance services.
Pastor Herman Clark led other church officials in the ground breaking before an enthusiastic crowd of several hundred people.
But there were not all happy faces when the project was first proposed in 1994. A controversy arose as the civic league and many residents objected to a plan by the church to bus homeless people from out of the area to the center. Some residents worried that the facility might lower property values in a neighborhood that has experienced deterioration in recent years.
Discussions between the church and civic league - sometimes heated - continued throughout 1995, but ended with the church agreeing not to bring in homeless people and to primarily focus on the community. The church also hired research companies to conduct real estate surveys, which showed that property values would not be lowered.
In October 1995, the civic league overwhelmingly voted for the center. The rezoning of the site to make way for construction was approved by City Council earlier this year.
``This is an example that might get other civic leagues to come together with other groups to work out some of the problems they have,'' said Harold ``Butch'' Schupska, civic league president. ``To see the league and church get together to build a center for the community is an inspiration.''
Joyce Harvey, chairperson of the center's planning committee, also is happy with the outcome.
``It's special to us to know that we were able to come together as partners to do this and it's definitely a relationship we want to maintain,'' Harvey said.
The neighborhood is a mix of black and white. The church is mostly black. A few civic league members attend the church. Schupska and Harvey said that the center will be a way for the community and church to become and stay more involved.
The structure will be a multiuse facility, including a commercial kitchen, nursing station, chapel and conference rooms. The project is being financed by members of the congregation, totaling around 800, along with help from some local businesses. Construction is expected to begin in early June and be completed within a year. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
Community leaders break ground for the New Hope Christian Center at
Brest and Pershing avenues.
by CNB