Restored Booker T. Anderson Community Center reopens
Community members celebrated the reopening of Booker T. Anderson Community Center Thursday evening, showcasing the extensive repairs and upgrades made after a fire shuttered the center nearly four years ago.
Deputy City Manager of Community Services LaShonda White said residents had waited a very long time for the center’s reopening and thanked the community for their patience.
“We wanted to make sure it was as perfect as it could be because you all deserve it,” White said. “We hope that this community center reflects your dreams and wishes for what this community center should be. We want to fill it with people and activities.”
A fire damaged the BTA Community Center in November 2020. Restoration efforts include replacing structural components and upgrading building systems. The project faced several challenges due to contractor issues and staff turnover.
The park is named for Booker T Anderson, the minister of Easter Hill United Methodist Church and Richmond mayor, who died in 1982.
During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Anderson’s son Ahmad said access to community recreation and parks made a difference in residents’ lives.
“It wasn’t just about basketball, it wasn’t just about lifting. It was a place where you learned how to read. It was a place where you learned how to write. It was a place where you learned arithmetic,” Anderson said. “I learned how to play the drums here. I learned how to play basketball here. I hit my first single on the baseball field.”
Anderson said that after his family moved to Bayview Avenue in 1966, his father used to walk to Easter Hill United Methodist Church for work and run around the field for exercise.
“He used to look at this place and say this place is nothing if no one is inside and making use of it. It is important that we show up today, but I need you to come back every day,” Anderson said. “My father’s blood, sweat, and tears enabled us to be here today. But you are the lifeblood of the City of Richmond and the Southside.”
Longtime community activist Myrtle Braxton said she was so disappointed when she heard about the community center fire and thanked the City Council for finding the money to repair it.
“You notice they’ll always find money when we need it,” Braxton said.
District 3 Councilmember Doria Robinson thanked community members who pushed to rebuild and reopen the center.
“It is a thankless job, and it is a job that actually kept pushing all of us to make sure that this center got done and got done right and that there was accountability around it,” Robinson said.
Robinson said the center is one of the older beloved spaces in the city, and the city council wants to ensure it receives ongoing maintenance so it doesn’t become rundown again.
“Our budget has to reflect our values. We have to put our money where our needs are, to put our money where our hearts are, and where our community is,” Robinson said. “I’m so happy to see BTA open again.”
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