Richmond put $65 million toward new and improved community centers. They’re almost done.

On a misty morning in the waning days of his term, Mayor Levar Stoney is standing on a rooftop in Church Hill looking at the foggy outlines of downtown. 

He is surrounded by piles of construction materials and an entourage of people in hard hats and reflective vests who are describing to him what this area more than three stories high will look like come late spring: An open-air basketball court surrounded by fencing to keep balls from zinging down on the heads of passersby on T Street. A community garden rooted in a fleet of planters. A teaching kitchen. 

“This will be an iconic facility for Church Hill without a doubt,” says Stoney, adding: “Dr. Avula will have a nice ribbon to cut.”

As the mayor’s eight years in office come to an end and he prepares for a run for Virginia lieutenant governor, Stoney is taking stock of what he sees as his signature achievements in Richmond before former public health official Dr. Danny Avula takes over on Jan. 1. In what he’s branded the “Faring Well Tour,” the mayor is trying to cement his legacy by pointing to improvements he’s ushered in — and, members of his team frequently complain, not gotten credit for amid high-profile meals tax and billing stumbles. 

High on his list is the $65 million in COVID-era American Rescue Plan Act funds that the city has put toward the construction of two brand-new community centers and the major overhaul of two more. By mid-2025, three of those facilities — Lucks Field in Church Hill, T.B. Smith in the Davee Gardens neighborhood of Southside and Southside Community Center near Midlothian Turnpike — are scheduled to be completed. A fourth, the Calhoun Community Center near Gilpin Court, will begin renovations this winter after the city acquired ownership of the facility from the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

Stoney and his director of parks and recreation, Christopher Frelke, describe the projects as “generational” investments. It’s been almost 25 years since Richmond built any new community centers; the last, said Frelke, was a $2.6 million facility at the Pine Camp Arts and Community Center. 

That isn’t for lack of trying: In 2001, former 9th District City Councilor Gwen Hedgepeth vowed to fast until City Council agreed to pony up the funds to build a new Southside community center. It didn’t work. Instead, in 2014, Richmond acquired the former Richmond Outreach Center and repurposed it as a community center. 

In the meantime, residents in many of the city’s poorer neighborhoods have complained about a lack of resources for young people who want to steer clear of drugs and guns. Stoney said kids having nothing to do was a “common refrain” he heard on the campaign trail in 2016. And on surveys conducted by the city to determine what Richmond should do with its ARPA cash, officials said community centers and other parks and recreation services were at the top of the wish list. 

“This is something that the children have been waiting and waiting and waiting for,” said 8th District Councilor Reva Trammell, who represents the area where T.B. Smith sits. 

COVID dollars proved to be a game-changer. While the city had begun budgeting for improvements to Southside before the pandemic, the millions in relief funding that began flowing to the states allowed officials to plow cash into long-deferred projects. Community centers became the biggest focus for Richmond — backed by both Stoney and City Council, the city ultimately put more than 40% of its $155 million ARPA allotment toward the facilities. When Lucks Field, T.B. Smith and Southside are complete, they are expected to require about $2.3 million in total each year for staffing and utilities.  

The gaps that needed to be filled became especially evident as city officials began community meetings on what residents wanted out of the centers. 

“There was nowhere to come and meet,” said Kelly McArthur, a project manager for Baskervill, which designed the Lucks Field Community Center. 

Skepticism was also widespread. One resident who attended meetings for T.B. Smith told Frelke that after years of plans and promises by the city that never came to fruition, she didn’t think the newest project would happen. Frelke said when the groundbreaking occurred, “I made sure she had a shovel.” 

Trammell, a sometime-Stoney foe, is also eager to give credit where it’s due. 

“The mayor and I have not always seen eye to eye,” she said. “But you know what? He kept his word.” 

None of the community centers are finished yet, with Southside anticipated to be the first to wrap up this winter. But work there and at Lucks Field and T.B. Smith has progressed enough to make it clear what residents can expect come May or June, when contractors hope to have finished those two facilities. 

Juanita Gaines, a resident of Davee Gardens who said she can see T.B. Smith from her back door, said she’s attended every meeting that’s been held about the center — and is eagerly awaiting the day when it opens. 

“I’ve got my bags packed to go right across the street,” she said. “Do you know how long we’ve been asking for something for our young kids to do? Something for our seniors to do?” 

All three of the community centers will offer brand-new gymnasiums ringed with indoor elevated walking tracks for exercise during unpleasant weather. Space for teens will be paired with rooms for community meetings or other government services like a Virginia Department of Health clinic that will be located at Lucks Field. 

But each will also have special features that distinguish it from the others. T.B. Smith will include a splash pad and solar panels on the roof that will let it reduce its electric bill through net metering. Lucks Field will have the rooftop basketball court and other amenities that Baskervill principal and board chair Burt Pinnock says are aimed at “literally and figuratively elevating the community.” Southside will have a state-of-the-art boxing gym, a recording studio and a dance and ballet studio. 

“We’re going to start seeing Chesterfield folks in here,” said Stoney as he toured Southside. 

L. Dexter Goode, the city’s construction project manager, went for a more understated evaluation: “It’s come a long way since what it was eight years ago.”