South Bend moving forward with $20M westside community center
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South Bend officials are moving forward in a multi-million-dollar community center project expected to breathe new life into a neighborhood on the city’s west side.
For years, the city’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center filled a role as a meeting place, athletics venue and safe haven for kids, teens and parents in South Bend.
Its indoor basketball court and meeting rooms bustled even when some neighborhood storefronts closed up. And, after years of investment in other area parks, some closer to South Bend’s downtown corridor, the popular westside center is seeing its turn for investment.
Jordan Gathers of South Bend Venues Parks & Arts speaks about programs to be offered at the new Dream Center.
South Bend Mayor James Mueller in 2021 announced plans to revitalize the city’s Linden Avenue corridor, bordering the community center run by the city’s South Bend Venues Parks & Arts.
The community center piece — affectionately labeled “Build the Dream” project — involves a new building, called the MLK Dream Center, that bring two basketball courts, a weight room, a dance studio, an indoor track and playground to the city’s Kennedy Park neighborhood.
Total costs for the project are likely to exceed $20 million, said Jordan Gathers, interim director of South Bend Venues Parks & Arts.
The city is directing $11 million in American Rescue Act dollars to the 40,000-square-foot center and is seeking additional support through grants, corporate sponsorships and individual donors.
The location is steeped in history that city officials say they are incorporating into features of the new space. This year’s project replaces the former MLK Center at 1522 Linden Ave. which has served as a community resource since its opening in 1973. Before that, the land was home to Linden School, a historically Black grade school.
City officials say they spent months surveying residents and want to preserve the neighborhood’s history in a new, modern space that reflects values of inclusivity, sustainability and excellence.
“We were really intentional about gardening the voice of the community, of the people,” Gathers said, crediting the city’s design firm, METICULOUS, for incorporating feedback in their work. “They told us they wouldn’t put a pencil to paper until they heard from the community first and so that’s what we did.”
Those features show in design for an indoor-outdoor playground, dedicated space for weightlifting classes and accessibility for community members of all ages.
The city broke ground in January, has since demolished the 1973 MLK Center and this week opened bids for new construction, landscaping and more. Programs and staff housed at the MLK Center have been relocated to nearby Kennedy Park and The O’Brien Center on the city’s south side.
The new center is expected to create opportunities for existing and new arts and literacy programs like podcasting, computer technology, financial education and more. Sports like basketball, volleyball, tennis and pickleball will also be supported at the new center.
The Dream Center comes in conjunction with a streetscaping project overseen by the city’s public works and community investment departments to calm traffic and encourage commercial business growth along the Linden Avenue corridor.
Gathers speaks about the history of the Linden Avenue corridor in South Bend.
“We’ve seen a decline over the years,” Gathers said. “We want to get back to that vibrancy. We want to get back to that culturally rich environment on the west side.”
Gathers says the city anticipates completing its Dream Center project in late 2024. City officials are sharing updates about the project through their website, southbendin.gov/buildthedream.