ENGLEWOOD, N.J.—A long-awaited community-wide meeting to kick off discussions on whether a community center should be built in Englewood will be held Wednesday, May 15 at Dr. John Grieco Elementary School, said a communications consultant hired by the City Council.
Joyce Dudley, a consultant with Dudley Hamilton Associates, Englewood, said the first 2019 forum planned to discuss the future of a city community center is open to interested residents, and the school’s cafeteria can hold up to 200 attendees. The meeting is set from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
The meeting about a community center—long-discussed and a sore point among many residents—comes amid city discord over a perceived crime increase, suspension of the city manager, unsettled budget questions, and upset among city fire and police department members over a residency preference ordinance set for public hearing May 21.
‘Think and discuss’
“We will be providing information and providing questions to residents who attend to think about and discuss,” said Dudley.
Dudley attended and helped to facilitate then-Council President Wayne Hamer’s initial meeting on a community center in November.
At the session, Hamer talked generally about the idea for a center, what it might involve and what ideas had been put forward. He said he was spurred on by an outreach meeting by Metro Community Church focused on galvanizing support for a church-sponsored community center.
Some residents in November opposed such a center, with several arguing over what a community center would mean to Englewood, and who would or should benefit most from a center.
Dudley said she hopes to notify residents of the meeting using neighborhood grapevines, social media, news media, and the city website to draw out city residents to the public forums on a community center.
Hamer’s city council-sponsored session followed on the heels of several outreach forums focused on developing a community center —sponsored by Metro Community Church, Shiloh A.M.E. Zion Church and Northern New Jersey Community Foundation’s Project Liberty.
While all three organizations were soliciting input on ideas for a possible community center in the city, Project Liberty remains exclusively focused on repurposing Russell C. Major Liberty School, a 117-year-old structure now in disrepair, and part of a site that the Planning Board and City Council designated an area in need of redevelopment in early 2018.
Project Liberty has sponsored several consultant presentations before the City Council on preserving and reusing Liberty School as a community center and as a “cultural anchor” for downtown development.
Despite public support for reusing and preserving Liberty School since its purchase in 2003—along with Lincoln School, which was later demolished—it remains vacant, unused and unmaintained despite its historical significance.
A resident for over three decades, Dudley said she has reached out to many residents for feedback about a center, and she said many people feel strongly about and support the need for open community meetings to bring the city together.
‘Talk to one another’
“This is not about convincing people anything about a community center. It’s about bringing people together so that they can learn how to talk to one another,” said Dudley.
“It doesn’t matter what color, black, white, green, purple, all people play a role in their community. And when there’s something we don’t like, well, what don’t we like about it and what role have we played in it?” asked Dudley.
In addition to facilitating conversations among residents, Dudley said the first forum hopes to look at different community center models and trends in community centers.
While several groups and individuals have pushed the City Council over years—and a few for decades—to pursue a community center for Englewood, no City Council has developed or pushed such a proposal.
Several city Master Plans have called for Liberty School to be recognized for its historical status and even be used as a community center.
A 2010 study commissioned and paid for by the City Council recommended that Liberty School be used as a performing arts high school or a community center. No action was taken.
“Communities are the ways they are because of how people are and the ways they think about what goes on in the community,” said Dudley.
Dudley said she had met with many city stakeholders and said community forums would continue into the fall. It was unclear if sessions would occur in summer though she said a June date was likely.
Dudley’s $48,000 contract calls for five or six forums, which includes meetings in all four city wards.
She previously said she would form several subcommittees, including a residents’ advisory group, a strategic advisory group, and ward-based youth focus groups.
She said that the residents’ advisory group would meet after every public forum to assess public input and follow-up on comments.
“We’ll hopefully be putting a process in place for the council to use going forward on a community center. These (forums) will be laying the groundwork for the mayor and council to take this forward,” she added.
