New east Macon community center replaces cramped meeting quarters

Kings Park now has a modern community center to replace the outdated, cramped buildings where neighborhood meetings were held.

Macon-Bibb County leaders, neighborhood residents and others gathered Thursday to welcome the new Kings Park Community Center which opened after five months of construction.

The effort to build a new center kicked into high gear last year when Commissioner Elaine Lucas dedicated $300,000 of blight funds for the project. Community leaders said Thursday that the 2,300-square-foot building is a symbol of the dedication by the Kings Park Neighborhood Association to not only have a new center, but also its goal of revitalizing the blighted community.

The center at 3283 Kingston Court has an activity room, computer lab, warming kitchen, office and restrooms. The contractor on the project was Macon-based Stafford Builders & Consultants.

“This has been a dream for Kings Park and it certainly will be an asset to us,” said Theresa Hugley, president of the Kings Park Neighborhood Association. “We will have all of our meetings and programs here that will help the community as a whole.”

Several plaques were unveiled during Thursday’s ceremony including plaques mentioning appreciation for Lucas and former Bibb County Chairman Sam Hart, who advocated for the Kings Park Community Center during his tenure on the commission.

The east Macon neighborhood has been beset by blight over the years. The new center ties into other blight remediation around the neighborhood where homes have been demolished. About $266,000 has been dedicated to removing the blighted homes.

Lucas said she fondly recollects Kings Park at its peak, a subdivision in unincorporated Bibb County that was appropriately named.

“This is to form the core of revitalization of the Kings Park area,” she said. “I remember Kings Park years ago. Kings Park, that meant something years ago. What we’re going to do in working with the neighborhood ... is to continue that move to make it grand again.”

Macon-Bibb blight consultant Cass Hatcher credited teamwork as leading to Thursday’s grand opening.

“The community picked the colors, layout of the building, what they wanted to see in the facility, and I just helped to orchestrate what their vision was for the community,” he said.

This story was originally published November 30, 2017 at 11:58 AM with the headline "New east Macon community center replaces cramped meeting quarters."