City leaders push for Elver Park community center

Keely Arthur by Keely Arthur

City leaders are trying strengthen community ties and reduce violence on the far West Side with the proposal of a large community center at Elver Park.

“We are always looking for ways to reduce crime,” West District Madison police Capt. Cory Nelson said.

Nelson believes a community center on the west side would help reach that goal, but he needs residents to fight for the project.

“This is something that if it’s going to happen the community would really need to take the reins and run with,” Nelson said.

Nelson and other city leaders, such as alderwoman Barbara Harrington-McKinney want the community center to be similar to the one at Warner Park on the North Side. They said it would help fill a void for appropriate activities on the west side.

“There’s no centralized place for all of those kids to come,” Harrington-McKinney said.

“We are looking at this as maybe a long term project to address some of the issues with frankly a lot of young people in the area with not a lot to do on their hands,” Nelson said.

So instead of dabbling in drug dealing and gun play, Nelson said, kids can exercise, play ball and even maybe paint or dance at the proposed center.

Harrington-McKinney said some of those activities just aren’t always possible at surrounding smaller neighborhood centers.

“Some of the neighborhood centers are not open in the evening, some of them don’t have operating funds to be open on a Saturday,” Harrington-McKinney said.

Nelson, who worked at the North District police station for years, said he saw the benefits of Warner Park’s center first hand and believes building a community center on the West Side would also build a safer community.

“It’s kind of just nice to see a gathering point for all people to get to know each other,” Nelson said.

A public meeting to discuss the center will be held at St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church on Sept. 26 at 6:00 p.m.

COPYRIGHT 2020 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.