The city of Yakima will run the Washington Fruit Community Center at Miller Park on its own, following a City Council vote to end the long-running agreement with the Yakima Police Activities League, which oversaw the east-side facility.
The council formally made that decision Tuesday, a month after agreeing to the change in principle and directing city staff to draft a proposal. Under the proposal, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department will be responsible for programming at the center and will move its Beyond the Bell afterschool program there from its current home at Roosevelt Elementary School. It also will identify additional programming for the center at 602 N. Fourth St.
The idea, according to a presentation by Parks and Recreation Director Ken Wilkinson, is “to foster inclusive participation by providing a variety of quality, fun and safe programs for people of all ages.” Specific programming will be determined via a neighborhood survey and, when it’s feasible from a public health standpoint, from open houses and public forums.
“We absolutely want to know what the community wants,” Wilkinson said. “And creating a survey of some sort and getting that out to the individuals in that service area is paramount moving forward.”
YPAL, which had been managing the center since 2004 under a contract with the city, will still have the option of offering its programs there.
“This is not a closed door for them,” Assistant Mayor Holly Cousens said. “This is an opportunity for us to partner with them.”
Other agencies or organizations could also find homes at the center via agreements with the city, Wilkinson said, mentioning the nonprofits First Tee of Yakima and People for People as potential partners. Whatever the specifics are, having a broad-spectrum community center on Yakima’s east side is important, Council Member Brad Hill said.
“We want to make sure we have equity in the options available to our community members. ... This is the right way forward for your young people and our community on the east side of Yakima,” he said.
The facility began life in the 1970s as the city’s senior center. Senior programming moved when the Harman Center opened on the city’s west side in 2004. YPAL has operated it since, offering programs targeting at-risk youths. Roughly 30% of the neighborhood surrounding Miller Park is below the poverty line, and providing recreation opportunities there has been part of the city’s and YPAL’s anti-gang efforts. This change will only broaden those opportunities, Cousens said.
“The more youth we can connect with and help, the better,” Cousens said.
Mayor Patricia Byers echoed that sentiment.
“I think this is a fabulous opportunity,” she said.
Council Member Kay Funk, whose support of the move had previously been tempered by concerns about its budget impact, cheered Wilkinson’s department for coming up with a proposal that has essentially no budget impact because it uses already-budgeted city staff.
“I could not be more excited or more complimentary of the efforts of the parks department in putting together and getting out there this plan,” Funk said.
In other action Tuesday, the City Council:
- Saw its first live public comment since nearly a year ago, following a vote last month to reinstate it. There were three such comments Tuesday, delivered via livestream video with a 2 1/2-minute limit. All of them dealt with the council’s potential changes to a crosswalk at the intersection of 40th and Chestnut avenues. The council heard a report on the matter later in the meeting but took no other action on it.
• Made a proclamation formally recognizing February as Black History Month, something longtime local Black activist Ester Huey said is significant because it’s the city’s first time doing so. Byers called the recognition “long overdue.”
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City of Yakima will run Washington Fruit Community Center on its own - Yakima Herald-Republic
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