Last year, the Linden community center was one of dozens of projects around the nation that were awarded funding from the National Park Service to preserve sites important to the history of African Americans’ struggles for equality.
The center, built in 1930, was awarded more than $498,000.
The Linden Center provided after-school activities, arts and crafts, basketball and other recreational opportunities until the city closed the facility in 2006. The building has been vacant ever since.
Wednesday’s city commission agenda included an emergency ordinance authorizing the sale of the site to Gem City-Hilltop. But the vote to declare the ordinance an emergency measure did not pass.
Commissioner Shenise Turner-Sloss asked for more information on the project, and City Manager Shelley Dickstein said there had been a decade-long series of “fits and starts” in trying to arrange the sale and reuse of the site.
When Commissioner Darryl Fairchild asked what the developer planned to use the site for, Dickstein said it was still a type of multi-use center concept, but added “it has shifted a lot in detail” and said, “I can get that information for you (later).”
With Commissioner Chris Shaw absent from the meeting, Jeff Mims and Matt Joseph voted yes, Fairchild voted no, and Turner-Sloss abstained, leaving only two votes in favor.
No one from Gem City-Hilltop Community Development and Housing spoke at the meeting.
Dickstein said the city’s next step is to invite the proposed developer to a future City Commission meeting to provide an overview of their approach to funding the development.
“I thought I had sufficiently addressed the commissioners’ questions ahead of the meeting; clearly that was not the case,” Dickstein said. “So we will take some time to fully brief the commission and bring back the legislation at a later date.”
Linden Center history
The Linden Center was an early example of an all-inclusive community center that played a role in the development of the Black community in West Dayton, according to information contained in an application for placement on the National Register of Historic Places.
“The Linden Center represents a response to the challenges faced by African American citizens in a segregated community early in the 20th century,” the application states.
The center, which was spearheaded by Black activists and community leaders, offered recreation and cultural options and services like medical treatment, educational programming and life skills without regard to race or gender, the application states.
The Linden center was one of about half a dozen smaller community centers the city shuttered to shift funding to its larger recreation facilities, and city officials at the time said the property was outdated and not meeting the needs of residents.
About five years ago, the Dayton City Commission approved removing the center from the city’s public commons plan and parks master plan.
The two-story building still contains a gymnasium, with a stage, a library, play room and offices, the historic register application states.
The center’s second floor has large activity rooms, a projection room, kitchen and other spaces.
About the Author
