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City funds transferred from struggling community center

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By Richard Wilson, Staff Writer 7:16 PM Tuesday, December 20, 2011

HAMILTON — The Booker T. Washington Community Center is expected to receive funding from the city to improve the facility next year.

While improvements to the center’s kitchen, floors, baseball dugouts and tennis courts were made this year using Community Development Block Grant dollars, $33,000 of CDBG funds slated to buy playground equipment at the center were among those reallocated to the RiversEdge Project.

City Manager Joshua Smith said the funds were not spent for that purpose because the center already has good playground equipment and there is nearby access to Riverview Elementary’s newer equipment.

The reallocation was part of City Council’s approval on the transfer of $210,334 of CDBG funds from various projects to build public rest rooms for the RiversEdge amphitheater. In addition to the center, the money was slated for needs like repairing the roof on the Frederick G. Mueller building, the city’s summer playground program and health department demolitions.

The funds needed to be reallocated because they were leftover and were not spent on those projects, Smith said.

Residents have said the city has not put enough emphasis on maintaining the BTW. Smith disagreed with criticisms that the city has neglected the center. He said city administrators worked to file proper paperwork for the center and $96,000 was provided this year to pay for improvements. That’s not counting utilities costs, he said.

In addition, Smith said $60,000 is already budgeted to support the center next year.

More funding is needed to support programming and update equipment at the center, said Sherida Hickman, BTW center board president.

“Programming has declined. We’re bringing it back,” Hickman said. “We’re doing things to get the center back on track.”

Among the center’s needs are new computers in the labs and new exercise equipment. Hickman said they’ve started a Zumba class and a girl scout program.

Smith said he plans to meet with Hickman and in January to discuss what the needs are and what funding opportunities may exist.

Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4542 or rwilson@coxohio.com.

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