Here’s what’s next for the Las Vegas Trail community center in west Fort Worth
An effort to turn a former YMCA into a community center for the Las Vegas Trail area is moving along with a new executive director, and residents of the west side neighborhood could see improvements taking shape early next year.
The need for a public center, with after school programs and educational options, quickly rose to the top of community needs in a series of town halls that started in 2017. About 9,000 people live in the area, mostly in 32 apartment complexes dominated by low-income and single-parent households.
In March the city purchased the YMCA branch at 8201 Calmont Ave. for less than $250,000. Close to $4 million will be invested in the property to make it a hub for the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Fort Worth, Catholic Charities of Fort Worth and United Way of Tarrant County.
LVT Rise, a nonprofit founded to revitalize the area, formally began the renovation Monday. The center is less than a mile east of Las Vegas Trail and just a two-minute walk from Western Hills Elementary and Primary schools.
Willie Rankin, a former manager of church and nonprofit partnerships at Catholic Charities, will spearhead the completion of the rehab and opening of the community center as the new executive director of LVT Rise, the nonprofit announced Monday. Though LVT Rise will manage the community center, other organizations will provide services such as case management through Catholic Charities and after school programs through the Boys & Girls Club and the Fort Worth Public Library.
The community center will focus on safety and education with the goal of improving employment, family stability and health in the Las Vegas Trail area, Rankin said. He stressed the importance of making the center family-focused and said he had a personal stake in making it successful.
“This community center will be a location that my son can grow up in and have fun,” Rankin said. “I’m not just coming to work in this area, but my family will also be in this area. These children will also play with my son.”
Renovations to the former YMCA have been split in two phases.
The first phase includes a dedicated library branch with computer lab, office space for partners like the United Way or a health clinic, and improvements to the playground to make it more accessible for children with disabilities. The center will also have a dedicated food bank. The building will be opened up with larger windows and a new front entrance, said architect Javier Lucio with RPGA Design Group. Construction will start by early next year.
“We really want people to be able to see inside the building, see what’s going on,” he said.
A second phase will remodel a back building that was a fitness room for additional community space. A canopy will be placed over the outdoor basketball courts and seating will be added outside.
When the YMCA turned over the building to the city in March, an estimated $3.6 million was needed to modernize the community center, split between the city and private donors. Rankin said about $1.2 million is still needed to complete renovations. LVTRise has an annual operating budget of about $500,000, of which the city will provide $170,000 a year for the first three years.
Improving safety around Las Vegas Trail has been a focus of community efforts for about two years.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram drew attention to the neighborhood in 2017 with a look at life along “The Trail.” Part of the story focused on a girl who was kidnapped and sex-trafficked. Councilman Brian Byrd has said the girl’s story prompted him to find a solution to the neighborhood’s downward slide.
That solution, Byrd said Monday, was bringing together nonprofits and businesses. What began as a roving community center — a 45-foot-long RV, emblazoned with #LVTRise and staffed by a rotation of social services — has turned into the community center on Calmont. But Byrd said work was just getting started.
“We’re not going to come and go,” Byrd said. “We’ve been at this two years, and one of the things we’re communicating is we’ll stay as long as the stars are in the sky.”
This story was originally published November 11, 2019 at 4:10 PM with the headline "Here’s what’s next for the Las Vegas Trail community center in west Fort Worth."
