Center Helps Build Community

The William M. Hargraves Recreation Center has offered Northside neighborhood's youth an alternative to crime ever since it opened its doors to the community back in 1945.

Chapel Hill police spokeswoman Jane Cousins said Northside has the highest crime rate of any neighborhood in the town and that it is an area of concern for the department.

"But you can't just say that Northside has a crime problem and not mention the people that are really trying to do something about it," Cousins said. "The Hargraves Center is an integral part of both Northside and the town of Chapel Hill. Yes, there have been arrests made out on the ball fields (at the center) at night, but there are rarely problems during the (hours that Hargraves is open)."

Nate Davis, director of Hargraves for the past 18 years, said he played at the center as a child. Now he runs the center. "We have all kinds of educational and enrichment programs for anyone 5 to 95 years old," Davis said. "And we allow most any nonprofit organization to hold their meetings at the center."

One of those nonprofit groups is EmPOWERment Inc., a grassroots community development corporation that does a lot of its work in the Northside neighborhood.

Terry Carver, who works for EmPOWERment, said he grew up with Davis. Carver lives on Lloyd Street, which is one street over from Northside. He said the center is a "blessing" to the area.

"My wife and I really enjoy taking our granddaughter to the center to play with all the other children," Carver said.

But Northside faces another problem. Carver said the neighborhood has changed due to investors buying up property in Northside to make off-campus housing for students.

"Hardly any of the people that I grew up with still live in the neighborhood, and at least the center is doing something about getting the community together on those kind of issues," Carver said.

The Hargraves Center got its start partly because of the Great Depression. Construction of the center was completed in 1945 with funds from both the Works Progress Administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal and Chapel Hill's Negro Civic Club. The idea for a community center started with the Negro Civic Club. Members were concerned the town lacked a facility where blacks could socialize and participate in organized recreational activities.

Although crime and the lost sense of community are real threats, the center's programs are helping to answer those concerns, residents said.

Gloria Lindsay, 43, of 215 Roberson St. lives across the street from the center. She said she has lived in Northside since she was born and went to the center as a child. "We didn't have those after-school (programs) where all the students come over and mentor. I wish that they had these programs around when my son was a boy."

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