Rec center closures have parents worried about kids

Betty Jarvis drives her four grandchildren several times a week to the Adamsville Recreation Center in southwest Atlanta, where they play basketball, swim and run track.

Like many Atlantans, she’s aware of the city’s rocky finances — and worries how they will affect its parks and recreation programs this summer.

“If they close this center, I don’t know what the kids will do,” said Jarvis, 62.

The city announced in December it was temporarily closing about 20 centers, laying off 115 workers and delaying the opening of nine swimming pools.

Atlanta is not the only local government having trouble keeping its recreational programs at past levels.

Gwinnett County cut 12 positions in its parks and recreation department and has reduced hours at some of its facilities.

Clayton County Parks and Recreation Director Detrick Stanford said he is considering cutting summer camps. County commissioners have ordered all departments to trim budgets by 3 percent.

Some cities, like Tucson, Ariz., are considering charging people more money to play on its golf courses to weather its financial storm. Philadelphia is in the midst of a $1.2 million fund-raising campaign to pay for lifeguards at its pools this summer.

For now, Atlantans say they’ve noticed no difference in the level of service at the centers. But for how long?

“These are programs that keep our kids off the streets,” Councilwoman Joyce Sheperd, who represents parts of southeast Atlanta, said during a recent council finance retreat.

Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Commissioner Dianne Harnell Cohen said in an interview that she wants to open recreational facilities at Adams Park and Grant Park for summer camp, but there are no plans to reopen any of the others currently closed.

She proposes keeping 11 recreation centers in business, six swimming pools open this summer and continuing Camp Best Friends, the city’s summer program for children ages 5 to 16.

The city’s popular tennis centers will remain closed on Fridays.

Donations will fund the Atlanta Jazz Festival, which will be two days this year instead of three over Memorial Day weekend.

Mayor Shirley Franklin and the City Council will decide by June 30, when they adopt the budget, what levels of recreation programming they can afford.

City officials are exploring partnerships with groups like the YMCA.

Recreation programs are particularly important in Atlanta, because of its poverty rate of nearly 25 percent. That figure is in the top 10 of the nation’s big cities, U.S. Census figures show.

Councilman H. Lamar Willis grew up in a single-parent household, played baseball and took karate classes at the Adams Park Recreation Center and went to Camp Best Friends.

“A lot of the experiences that we would partake in were afforded to me by the city,” said Willis, 38. “It really did keep me in a more positive mind-set as a young man growing up.”

The city says its parks and centers benefit public safety.

“It is imperative that our parks are safe and do not become havens for drugs and prostitution,” Cohen said. “We are committed to our programs and committed to keeping that fabric going.”

The city’s challenge is money. City leaders say their top budget priority is public safety, although most of their current budget is already spent on police, fire safety, corrections and the courts. The question is, some say, how much should go to other services?

Shaun Simon, who watched his 6-year-old son, Solomon, take a karate lesson Wednesday at Adamsville, understands the dilemma.

“We do need more cops. We do need more social services,” said the financial adviser. “But the value of recreation centers will always be undervalued until 10 years from now, when you have a kid tell you ‘Adamsville changed my life.’”

— Staff Writers Patrick Fox, Megan Matteucci and Ty Tagami contributed to this article.