Community cornerstone in limbo: Civic leaders of Portsmouth neighborhood fault city for letting rec center fall into disrepair

The Port Norfolk Recreation Center was once the lively, bustling hub of an active community. It was the site of weddings, parties, school activities, and the first dance that Councilman Bill Moody attended as a boy about 65 years ago.

Today, the community is still active, but the once-vibrant community center is dark and vacant. At least one resident is worried that the city’s recent decision to cease using the building as a voting location will signal the end of what was once the cornerstone of the community. And the neighborhood civic league’s president says the city has known about the rec center’s issues for years and did little while the building deteriorated.

It’s unclear what’s wrong with the building — the city wouldn’t comment for this story — but the president of the Port Norfolk Civic League, Erika Nestler, said city staffers told her that it was in disrepair and that they didn’t want to sink any more money into it. City officials also said there was no longer a need for activities there, though a lot of young families reside in the neighborhood, according to Nestler.

From the outside, the building doesn’t look so bad. The vinyl windows and doors are fairly new, the grass is cut and the bushes are trimmed.

But in recent years, the city has used the building less and less. It stopped allowing the civic league to host meetings there several years ago. And then, before the pandemic, it halted all city programs except the voting. Now that’s gone too.

At the June 28 council meeting, Alexandra Abell, the city’s registrar, said she wanted to move the polling place because her workers “have expressed their concern with the state of the facility.” She said it’s only opened for voting on Election Day.

But to John Lifsey, vice president of the civic league, the decision is more significant than just moving a voting site. At the council meeting, he said, “we are opposed to this move because it looks like our only hope for saving this building and we hate to see this historic building go.”

The two-story brick building was built in 1924 as a post office and fire station for Port Norfolk, according to Lifsey and property records.

Moody tried to make a substitute motion to defer the polling place issue to the next meeting pending feedback on the building’s safety and condition.

But City Attorney Lavonda Graham-Williams said if they didn’t approve the item, the precinct would have an issue with voting. She asked Moody to reconsider or withdraw his motion.

Moody withdrew it and the ordinance passed, with only Moody voting no.

Councilman Christopher Woodard asked Mimi Terry, the then-interim city manager, if it was possible to get a report estimating the cost of repairing the building.

Terry said that she has been visiting recreation centers with staff to assess their condition and make a list of issues that are repairable. She said she would contact the civic league and visit the Port Norfolk center July 1 with the city engineer and maybe the city attorney. And she said she would then bring her report back to council.

Terry’s promised visit didn’t happen that day. A spokeswoman for the city said no such visit was scheduled Friday.

That’s what Nestler says she’s been dealing with for years. She has talked to mayors, city managers and parks and recreation department staffers about the building. They say they’ll do something, but they don’t, she said.

“The city is completely incompetent,” Nestler said.

Instead of addressing the major issues with the building, the city has focused on cosmetic repairs, she said.

At the meeting, Lifsey said, “Nothing has been done for years and years to maintain this building.” He told the council he thinks it will end up being demolished by neglect because of “the inaction of the city.”

Peter Glagola, a spokesman for the city, said in a text message that the rec center will be discussed at a work session on July 12.

JoAnn Clarke, a Portsmouth resident who spoke at the June 28 meeting, told the council the community center is a valuable asset that should be treated as such.

“These assets affect our bond rating,” she said. “When we let these assets go into a state of neglect, we are taking away our value and we’re putting our bond rating at risk.”

Noble Brigham, noble.brigham@virginiamedia.com