by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer
Now in its 13th year, the Sewanee Community Center (SCC) is a shining example of what can be accomplished through determinism, volunteerism and follow-your-dream passion. Unique in its no-fee policy, the center is available free of charge to any individual or group hosting a program or event open to the public. Users charging for lessons or classes pay a modest $5 per hour. For private parties, a $10 donation is suggested, but many give more.
Thirteen years ago, the SCC was an unused building with broken windows, buckled floors, a collapsing foundation, and a foul sewage odor permeating the premises. SCC manager Rachel Petropoulos describes the building today as “bright, sunny and friendly.” More than 800 people of all ages and walks of life pass through the doors each month, with activities scheduled on every day. The diverse array of programs include Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, dance lessons, yoga and a weekly farmers market.
The structure previously housed the University ROTC program and before that, served as an Army barracks. Moved to its present location on Ball Park Road in 1969, the building became the home of the Sewanee Senior Citizens’ Center and a Youth Center offering free after-school care. Attendance declined as after-school care became more widely available, and when Sewanee Elementary School began offering free after-school care, the Youth Center closed.
In early 2002, Cumberland Center for Justice and Peace (CCJP) board member Lisa Rung proposed CCJP lease the vacant building and turn it into a community center. Past president of the Youth Center board, Rung saw the potential in the building which offered a large, open room for activities and a small room for a CCJP office.
Much sighing and head-shaking followed when the CCJP board inspected the building, but in June 2002 the board voted to lease the building from the University for $10 per year and test-drive the community center idea.
CCJP sent out a survey asking the community what activities they wanted to see at the Center, met with the Sewanee Community Council to discuss the project and applied to the Community Chest for operating expenses based on the budget of the Youth Center, which the Community Chest had fully funded in the past. CCJP received less than a fourth of the requested amount.
Robin Hille Michaels, CCJP director in 2002, said, “One of the biggest challenges was convincing the community the center was not for CCJP’s benefit, but for the community’s benefit.”
In Sept. 2002, CCJP established a Community Center steering committee including non-CCJP board members. To help fund repairs, CCJP paid the center for office space, contributed its budget surplus and hosted a spring music festival to benefit the center from 2003 to 2005.
The center received gifts of paint, a phone, answering machine, ceiling fan and light fixtures. Volunteers cleaned, carted off trash from under the building, painted, refinished the floors, installed a gravel walkway and landscaped the entrance.
“They said it couldn’t be done,” Rung remembered, citing opposition to the no-fee use policy and the debate over whether the center should offer programs or merely provide an affordable facility and let the community decide what it wanted. Those arguing for community-determined use of the facility won the debate. From 2002 to 2005 the Community Chest annually increased its funding, eventually contributing $7,700 for repairs. Another generous $4,000 gift for repairs came from the University, along with many cash gifts from individuals and organizations.
By early 2007 the center had earned nonprofit status and its own bank account, separate from CCJP. The center hosts fund-raisers to pay for repairs and improvements like new windows and upgrading the kitchen for commercial kitchen use. An annual Community Chest gift pays most operating expenses and the manager’s salary. Donations cover other needs.
Asked what she’d like to see in a new facility, Petropoulos said, “What we need is what we have, but a little bigger, a little more polished.” A conference or meeting room would be nice, she added.
“The center is serving the community well. It’s very low stress, budget-wise and program-wise. We want to keep those things going.”
To schedule use of the center, contact Petropoulos at 598-9979 or email <rpetropo@gmail.com>.
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