DATE: Saturday, May 10, 1997                TAG: 9705100276

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MEREDITH COHN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   68 lines

CAMELOT RECREATION CENTER AND SCHOOL ADD-ON TO BE FETED TODAY THE CENTER WAS FIRST PLANNED FOR SCHOOL, BUT RESIDENTS WANTED SPACE, TOO.

The city will dedicate a long-awaited recreation center in the Camelot neighborhood today, the first of the city's six such facilities to be built as an addition to a school.

Public school and city officials will attend a dedication program from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the center at 948 King Arthur Drive.

Under construction for two years and on the drawing board longer, the 15,000-square-foot center, including a gymnasium, stage and game and activity rooms, will serve students during the day and the public in the evenings.

``In the winter the kids won't be stuck inside, where they can't run,'' said Jimmy Johnson, a Camelot Elementary School physical education teacher, who brought his first-grade class to the center a couple of days before the opening for a sneak preview.

The center was originally planned by the School Board as a gymnasium for the school. But residents had been clamoring for other recreational opportunities, including a larger court where adults could play basketball. The city's Department of Parks, Recreation and Building Maintenance paid for the additional amenities, according to Claire R. Askew, the department's director.

``So neighbors actually got a nicer facility, where we could offer programming,'' she said.

Not everyone in the Camelot neighborhood is satisfied with the new facility. Some say it is not adequate for the community's needs. The center is smaller than other Chesapeake community centers, and it does not have a kitchen or a weight room.

``It's not a community center; it's mostly just a gym on school property,'' said C.C. Hawkins, president of Camelot's civic league. ``It does not serve the community's needs.''

Hawkins, who's been lobbying for a community center since the 1970s, said his neighborhood has problems, including drugs, and a ``real community center'' could have given youths and adults somewhere positive to go.

The center will be open only to the elementary school's pupils during the day. Others will be allowed from 2:30 to 9 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Adult basketball and volleyball, and teen and family nights, are planned.

Hawkins said the civic league and neighbors will continue seeking other activities for area youths. At the same time as the dedication Saturday, a yard sale is planned on the other side of the school to raise money to form a Girl Scout troop.

Lynne W. Kennedy, chairwoman of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, said she understands the community's frustration because the center took so long to be constructed.

``There were contractual problems, but I know the folks in the area are going to be excited,'' she said. ``They've had to wait an exceptionally long time, but it has all been worked out.''

Adding the community center onto the school was an experiment, Kennedy said, but one she expects to work out smoothly. The gymnasium may get more use than others around the city because the schoolchildren will have use of it all day. A door was added so they do not have to go outside to enter the center.

Bill Fields, the center's superintendent, said he and staff members Consevella Blake, Eloise Carroll and Deborah Duck look forward to providing activities for all.

``It will make a difference,'' Fields said. ``We'll build self-esteem. They'll learn respect for each other and that will all culminate in community pride. It will be more than just a place to go.'' ILLUSTRATION: STEVE EARLEY/The Virginian-Pilot

Recreation specialists Bill Fields, left, and Malcom Johnson check

the game room at the new recreation center in Camelot.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu