Gorham Center could reopen under Boys & Girls Clubs plan | Local News
Discussions are underway that could restore the Lucille Gorham Intergenerational Community Center as the vibrant heart of west Greenville.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Coastal Plain are negotiating with city officials to open a new unit at the center as early as June. The Pitt County Council on Aging has also discussed opening a senior center on the site. Both proposals need city council approval.
Undertaking intergenerational work has been a goal of the Boys & Girls Clubs for several years, said Kimberly Boyd, the organization’s chief executive during a presentation at the Greenville City Council’s Monday workshop.
“We’ve seen the magic of bringing our seniors and young people together in a community and the remarkable lessons that can be learned from one generation to the next and the life it brings into a local community,” Boyd said.
For more than a decade the city, East Carolina University and Pitt Community College jointly operated the intergenerational center. The university announced last year it could no longer support operations at the center because of funding shortfalls.
The organization would offer the same programming — homework help and tutoring, healthy lifestyle activities and opportunities for service, leadership and civic engagement — that’s available at other locations.
Boyd estimates the Gorham Center site would serve about 120 youth under current COVID guidelines. Once social distancing restrictions are modified or lifted, an additional 40 to 60 youth could join.
The organization is in discussions with the Cooperative Extension Service of Pitt County about providing support for the gardens that are on the center’s grounds. Officials also are talking with Vidant Health and East Carolina University about providing health events and other support.
“We hope to be a backbone organization that can keep the campus alive and vibrant and open its doors and be representative of the city on site to be able to embrace anything the local community is interested in doing,” Boyd said.
The organization also wants to move its administrative offices, currently located in its Fire Tower Road unit, to the second floor of the community center that’s located on Ward Street.
When the Fire Tower Road location was built, the local Boys & Girls Clubs operated four sites and the administrative team was smaller, Boyd said. Today, the organization has 17 units in seven counties and has a much larger administrative arm.
Boyd said she wants to bring a formal proposal for use of the space to the city council in April.
The goal is to start summer programming at the location in June, she said.
If the Boys & Girls Clubs moves its administrative officers to the former community center, there has been discussions about the organization staffing the first floor as community space. Boyd said discussions are ongoing over which organization would manage the space.
“I am really excited,” Councilwoman Rose Glover said. “They are basically doing what the Lucille Gorham Center has done in the past. I look forward to seeing that continue and watching the growth with the boys and girls center. It looks like that they reached out to a lot of partners … and that’s what we need in our community.”
Opening a the senior center at the location will require a separate agreement between the Council on Aging and the city, said Rich Zeck, Council on Aging executive director.
“What we do is we operate them for cities. It would be the Greenville Senior Center just like we have the Farmville Senior Center, the Ayden Senior Center, the Bethel Senior Center,” Zeck said. “They are not the Council on Aging Senior Center.”
Typically cities or towns provide a space and the council supplies staff to offer four hours of programming, including meal service.
A senior center is much needed in the west Greenville area, Zeck said. It’s difficult for people living in the community to travel to the council’s County Home Road location which has crowding issues.
