Post by krazykev on Jul 18, 2007 6:10:18 GMT -5
By Jim Schlosser
Staff Writer
Marquis Street, growing up poor on the city's east side, pinpoints one place where as a boy he could have fun and his mother wouldn't worry — Hayes-Taylor YMCA.
"It was definitely instrumental in giving me a place to go," said Street, a lawyer who has returned the favor through Y volunteer work and as a lifetime member of the board.
Now, he and others with a special Y kinship face a dilemma. Should the Hayes-Taylor stay at East Market and Dudley streets?
The Y was built there in 1939 when white industrialist Ceasar Cone gave $50,000 for a black Y — provided it be named for his servants, Sally Hayes and Andrew Taylor.
Additions since then have resulted in three air conditioning and three electrical systems. The building lacks parking and members have been lost to the new Bryan Family YMCA downtown.
"You go down to Bryan, I'm told, and it's practically an inner city Y," Street said. "People like something new.
"It's probably time to find another location," he said.
N.C. A&T wants to help.
Twin bills sponsored by Sen. Katie Dorsett and Rep. Alma Adams, both of Greensboro, seek $8.5 million for A&T to buy Hayes-Taylor and convert it for student services.
Adams said late Tuesday her hopes were not high for the bill because some fellow legislators view it as "pork" because it pertains to one city.
"But the process isn't over and you don't give up until it's over," she said. If it fails this time, Adams said she'll be back with another bill at the next session.
Michael Digh, an official with the main Y office, said Tuesday: "The YMCA has a priority to sell the Hayes-Taylor building to A&T University."
In an e-mail, he said a new site for the Y has been chosen: 15 acres at Lee and Florida streets, next to Barber Park.
"Opportunities for the YMCA of Greensboro," a report made for the main Y office by Atlanta's Winfield Consulting Group estimates 1,068 of Hayes-Taylor's members would move to the new location and 89 would return from Bryan.
The report recommends that the new Y — proposed to be about 32,000 square feet — collaborate with Barber Park for use of the park's indoor basketball and tennis courts and outdoor golf and baseball facilities.
Even though Hayes-Taylor stands in the heart of a once-thriving black business and housing district, the staff says few people walk there now as they did years ago.
Evon Lawson, who was bringing her five grandchildren Tuesday to swim at the facility, said she wouldn't dare let them walk. She's been to Bryan Y, and said, "it was OK, but I enjoy coming here more. They watch the children very well and it's very clean. Everyone is very nice."
Still, if the Y moves, she'd follow. The new location would be closer to her house.
Ryan Pena, 12, lives too far to walk but he comes twice a week, and his mom finds it convenient to whip over from her job at A&T to pick up him and his brother, Andrew.
Larry Burnett, a retired military officer finishing his first week as Hayes-Taylor's executive director, says the building is landlocked and parking is dangerous. Parents must wait along the curb of busy Dudley Street to pick up children.
"There's a real need to make it safer," he said, adding that multitude of heating and air conditioning systems are a daily headache.
Street said the Y's programs for children, so important to his own upbringing, are paid for by adult memberships. The Y needs more adults and a new location may help accomplish that.
Street says national Y guidelines specify branches should be at least seven miles apart.
The one mile between Hayes-Taylor and what's now Bryan YMCA goes back to the segregation era. Hayes-Taylor was built for black people; Bryan and its predecessors served white people.
Akua J. Matherson, an A&T official, said acquiring the Y would give the university all land on East Market's north side from Dudley to Benbow Road.
Matherson said the Y buildings would become a "one-stop" place for admission, financial aid, registration and other services now spread across campus.
Hayes-Taylor's alumni roster is impressive. It's gym produced former NBA stars Lou Hudson and Bob McAdoo, present NBA player Brendan Haywood and former Harlem Globetrotter Curly Neal.
The Y also played a role in the 1960 Woolworth sit-ins. Negotiations took place in its meeting rooms. Other meetings aimed at ending segregation also took place there.
Staff Writer
Marquis Street, growing up poor on the city's east side, pinpoints one place where as a boy he could have fun and his mother wouldn't worry — Hayes-Taylor YMCA.
"It was definitely instrumental in giving me a place to go," said Street, a lawyer who has returned the favor through Y volunteer work and as a lifetime member of the board.
Now, he and others with a special Y kinship face a dilemma. Should the Hayes-Taylor stay at East Market and Dudley streets?
The Y was built there in 1939 when white industrialist Ceasar Cone gave $50,000 for a black Y — provided it be named for his servants, Sally Hayes and Andrew Taylor.
Additions since then have resulted in three air conditioning and three electrical systems. The building lacks parking and members have been lost to the new Bryan Family YMCA downtown.
"You go down to Bryan, I'm told, and it's practically an inner city Y," Street said. "People like something new.
"It's probably time to find another location," he said.
N.C. A&T wants to help.
Twin bills sponsored by Sen. Katie Dorsett and Rep. Alma Adams, both of Greensboro, seek $8.5 million for A&T to buy Hayes-Taylor and convert it for student services.
Adams said late Tuesday her hopes were not high for the bill because some fellow legislators view it as "pork" because it pertains to one city.
"But the process isn't over and you don't give up until it's over," she said. If it fails this time, Adams said she'll be back with another bill at the next session.
Michael Digh, an official with the main Y office, said Tuesday: "The YMCA has a priority to sell the Hayes-Taylor building to A&T University."
In an e-mail, he said a new site for the Y has been chosen: 15 acres at Lee and Florida streets, next to Barber Park.
"Opportunities for the YMCA of Greensboro," a report made for the main Y office by Atlanta's Winfield Consulting Group estimates 1,068 of Hayes-Taylor's members would move to the new location and 89 would return from Bryan.
The report recommends that the new Y — proposed to be about 32,000 square feet — collaborate with Barber Park for use of the park's indoor basketball and tennis courts and outdoor golf and baseball facilities.
Even though Hayes-Taylor stands in the heart of a once-thriving black business and housing district, the staff says few people walk there now as they did years ago.
Evon Lawson, who was bringing her five grandchildren Tuesday to swim at the facility, said she wouldn't dare let them walk. She's been to Bryan Y, and said, "it was OK, but I enjoy coming here more. They watch the children very well and it's very clean. Everyone is very nice."
Still, if the Y moves, she'd follow. The new location would be closer to her house.
Ryan Pena, 12, lives too far to walk but he comes twice a week, and his mom finds it convenient to whip over from her job at A&T to pick up him and his brother, Andrew.
Larry Burnett, a retired military officer finishing his first week as Hayes-Taylor's executive director, says the building is landlocked and parking is dangerous. Parents must wait along the curb of busy Dudley Street to pick up children.
"There's a real need to make it safer," he said, adding that multitude of heating and air conditioning systems are a daily headache.
Street said the Y's programs for children, so important to his own upbringing, are paid for by adult memberships. The Y needs more adults and a new location may help accomplish that.
Street says national Y guidelines specify branches should be at least seven miles apart.
The one mile between Hayes-Taylor and what's now Bryan YMCA goes back to the segregation era. Hayes-Taylor was built for black people; Bryan and its predecessors served white people.
Akua J. Matherson, an A&T official, said acquiring the Y would give the university all land on East Market's north side from Dudley to Benbow Road.
Matherson said the Y buildings would become a "one-stop" place for admission, financial aid, registration and other services now spread across campus.
Hayes-Taylor's alumni roster is impressive. It's gym produced former NBA stars Lou Hudson and Bob McAdoo, present NBA player Brendan Haywood and former Harlem Globetrotter Curly Neal.
The Y also played a role in the 1960 Woolworth sit-ins. Negotiations took place in its meeting rooms. Other meetings aimed at ending segregation also took place there.
