Gainesville commission asked to spend $3 million on new youth center at Duval school

Gainesville City Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker wants the city to spend $3 million to transform Duval Early Learning Academy into a cultural arts center for young people on the east side of town to stay busy and out of trouble with the law.

Duncan-Walker, who represents the district, made the recommendation at the City Commission’s General Policy meeting on Thursday after Gainesville police discussed the recent spike in gun violence and violent crimes involving young people.

The academy, formerly known as Duval Elementary School at 2106 NE 8th Ave, closed in 2016, but is currently being leased out to nonprofits that benefit students.

Duncan-Walker said cultural arts programs are a great way to keep young people engaged.

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“There actually have been pretty significant links to crime reduction in terms of involvement with the arts-based programs,” she said at Thursday’s meeting.

Instead of granting Duncan-Walker’s request, the commissioners, saying they support the project and want to participate, directed staff to talk to other possible financial partners who have expressed an interest in the project.

They include: the School Board, Alachua County, the University of Florida’s SPARC352 program, Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce and Council on Library and Information Services.

Poe said Friday that city staff has been directed to have conversations with those interested in participating in the project, and then bring back a recommendation of what the partnership would look like and who would pay what.

“That’s where we left it off,” he said.

The programs offered at Duval will also have to be formalized in the discussions, Poe said Friday. Commissioners discussed using Duval school space for community events and workforce training in addition to cultural arts programs for young people.

“It is a large school with a lot of flexible space,” Poe said Friday. “What kind (of programs) are needed? And what would sort of draw the most participation and provide the most help.”

There has been a 14% increase in violent crime from 2020 to 2021, a police presentation to commissioners on Thursday said. The police figures also show that in 2021 there were 561 people arrested who were 17 years old or younger in Alachua County. The charges included aggravated assault and battery, other felonies, attempted murder, auto theft, burglary, robbery and weapons charges.

Duncan-Walker said she has spoken to young people and their families about activities that are needed to keep young people engaged and safe from gun violence.

“I kept hearing youths and parents say over and over they don’t have anywhere to go. They don’t have anything to do,” Duncan-Walker said. “When asked what they wanted to do, they said they wanted mentoring. They said they wanted after-school programs. They said they wanted sports. They said they wanted mental health counseling. They said they wanted arts activities, and they said they wanted jobs.”

Alachua County Public Schools Superintendent Carlee Simon said the Duval campus buildings are in pretty good shape, but there would have to be a new security and lock system installed for the youth cultural arts center to open.

“Because of how it’s keyed-entry, some doors stay open when they shouldn’t be open,” Simon said.

She said the district has discussed a co-op project where different organizations would offer programs for students in the campus, but how the property is used still needs to be determined by the school board.

“Does the district part ways with this property? I think we have a lot of things to discuss,” she said.

Simon said the cultural arts center could offer after-school programs that would offer “a great way for us to build those bridges and relationships that we know are so important for us to have successful students.”

"The security (is an issue), making sure we have the right amount of lighting," Simon said. "I’d say to get the ball rolling, it is in great shape.”

Commissioner Harvey Ward said he supports the city investing in the new center at Duval, but not paying renovation costs for buildings owned by the school district.

He said the buildings at Duval won't require major renovations, unlike the city’s Old Fire Station No. 1 at 427 S. Main St., where the University of Florida's SPARC352 program has offered to operate a cultural arts center next door to St. Francis House.

Ward said the city might consider spending federal pandemic dollars on the Duval center instead of the fire station project as first proposed.

One possible funding source for the Duval project is Wild Spaces and Public Places tax revenues, which can be spent on cultural arts centers, Duncan-Walker said.

According to UF’s proposal to the city, the fire station project is proposed to be an “empowerment hub that promotes wellness, arts, cultural engagement, entrepreneurial ingenuity.”

But the proposal has languished for months, and Gainesville city officials were taken aback when an architect came back with a $4.4 million estimate to bring the building up to code. UF officials say they believe getting the building up to code would cost much less. And commissioner Adrian Hayes-Santos said Thursday it might even be cheaper to just construct a new building.

UF officials say they believe both cultural centers can come to fruition, and both could benefit the neighborhoods, said Andrew Telles, UF's Director of Collaborative Initiatives on Friday. He said UF wants to participate in both projects.

It was proposed that UF’s SPARC352 would provide ongoing programs and staffing for the fire station cultural arts center and that the city would bring the fire station building up to code.

Telles said the fire station project would be geared more towards adults and the communities around the station, whereas the Duval center would be focused on East Gainesville youth.

“The idea with Duval is that would be somewhat of a co-op, so pretty much any existing organization that is providing enrichment programs or services for families would be invited to be part of that co-op," he said.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Gainesville commissioner seeks $3 million for arts center on east side