Johnny Tapia Community Center to close while Wells Park expands

Aug. 28—A community center located at a park in northwest Albuquerque is set to close on Friday as the city begins to work to expand the park's footprint.

Katie Simon, a Family and Community Services spokesperson, said that Wells Park will undergo demolition work to expand and add new sports and recreacion amenities.

While this demolition is taking place, the Johnny Tapia Community Center will close and move organized sports and youth before- and after-school programming to other centers, according to the news release.

Pickleball and volleyball will be moved to the Barelas Community Center, as well as access to their open gym as well. Dennis Chavez, Herman Sanchez, and Los Duranes Community Centers also will also open gyms.

The city is also opening an additional before- and after-school recreation program site for kindergarten through fifth-grade students at Longfellow Elementary, the news release said.

The Johnny Tapia Community Center will remain closed for the duration of the demolition process, with reopening dependent on the progress of the project.