Keeping a legacy alive

"Clarence R. Kelly your legacy lives on," shouted residents and guests outside the renovated Clarence R. Kelly Community Center and Park.

About 100 people attended the grand opening ceremony on June 19 to to see the completion of the building located at 1701 NE Eighth Ave. that honors a man who sacrificed so much in the Duval Community.

District 1 Gainesville City Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker remembered how people were lined up on Northeast Eighth Avenue from the Mount Carmel Baptist Church to the center during Kelly's funeral more than a decade ago.

"I remember people shaking the hearse to celebrate the legacy and the life of Mr. Kelly," Duncan-Walker said. "He was a giant in the community. As we walk through the building ... we will see that his legacy lives on."

Originally constructed as a grocery store on the site many years ago, the building was converted into the Northeast Recreation Center, commonly referred to as the "Blue Center," in 1977.

The center in 2012 was renamed in honor of Kelly, who served as the center's director for 35 years. Kelly was known as a father figure to thousands of children who came to the center. Kelly retired from his position in 2010 and passed away in February 2011 at the age of 56.

The grand opening served as a finalè to the city of Gainesville's month-long Journey to Juneteenth celebration.

The cost of the center's renovation was approximately $2.3 million.

Those attending the grand opening toured the 3,800-square-foot facility that features event space for receptions and large gatherings, a computer lab, activity room and additional rooms for co-working spaces.

This year the Juneteenth holiday was on the same day as Father's Day.

Carla Lewis, CEO of the Greater Duval Neighborhood Association, said Kelly was an important father figure in her life.

Lewis said her parents were getting divorced when she was seven years old and that was around the same time she attended the community center and met Kelly.

"I told myself here's a guy I can trust to help me," Lewis said. "My children were students of his."

She said she loves how the center was rebuilt as a collaboration between city officials, the project's general contractor and residents of the Duval neighborhood in northeast Gainesville.

"This is a testament of how the community leaders, the powers-that-be and the community can come together," Lewis said. "We need to see more projects like this. Until we occupy places where decisions are made, we will not make an influence in our communities. We have a lot of people that were working on this project. It is important that this generation takes up the torch that these men left behind."

Roxy Gonzalez, director of the City of Gainesville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department commends Lewis for her commitment to the community.

"She has been a great supporter and we want to thank her for her steadfast love in the community," Gonzalez said.

Duval community advocate Earnestine Butler sung 'A Change is Gonna Come' by Sam Cooke before her speech.

"It's been a long time coming and change has come," Butler said. "We walked and we talked. You can't let someone walk in your community and tell you what they're going to to do. We will continue to stand until our children get what they deserve. Kelly stood there for everybody."

Peter McNiece, project manager for Wild Spaces and Public Places, said he was happy to have been a part of the construction, which was paid for with money from the Wild Spaces Public Places surtax, an eight-year, half-cent sales tax that was approved on Nov. 8, 2016 by Alachua County voters to acquire and improve conservation lands a​nd create, improve and maintai​n parks and recreational facilities within Alachua County.

"This building represents a man who was dedicated to the community," McNiece said. "It was important to create a building in the heart of the Duval community. We hope this will be a premier venue for events."

Charlene Kelly, Clarence Kelly's widow, said he would work tirelessly at the center to uplift the community.

"He woke early to pick up trash and worked on his off days," she said. "He always had something to say and always lend a helping hand. He was always empowering people. Let's continue his good deed to help the people ."

The late Kelly's sister, Elizabeth Brooks, and his nephew, Andre Faison, was thankful to see the completion of the building.

"He was dedicated the center, the kids and the community," Brooks said. "He raised everything in Gardenia (apartments). I thank God this happened."

"I remember him riding his bike to the center," Faison said. "He was a very humble man."

Ruth W. Brown, 92, said the Kelly family was her first neighbors and that she is grateful to see the upgrade of the community center.

"It is a really nice neighborhood," Brown said. "I want young people to become a part of this building. They need to know about the area."

Her daughter, Regina Lovings Morse, said she was pleased to see the changes in the building.

"We've been wanting to see the changes and they're finally here," Morse said. "I loved seeing the turnout."

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Clarence R. Kelly's legacy will be kept alive with the new Clarence R. Kelly Community Center