From The Capital Times, March 17, 2009
Click here to read article at The Capital Times website
One of the most promising projects for the long-needed revitalization of South Park Street and the surrounding neighborhood will break ground in a few days.
The first shovels of dirt will be dug in the parking lot of the Villager Mall in the 2200 block of South Park on Friday morning, March 27, for the Urban League of Greater Madison's Center for Economic Development.
Not only will this new building house the Urban League's local headquarters, but it will provide space for its many job training, youth and housing programs -- programs that help people get living-wage jobs, prepare young people to do better in high school and college, and educate adults on the benefits and means of owning their own homes.
The Center for Economic Development will be a far cry from the old residence on Gorham Street that has been the league's cramped home since 1968.
If nothing else, the new building will add significantly to the visibility of the Urban League, precisely in an area that is currently underserved and in need of a boost.
Additionally, the new building will house the new South Madison library branch, which will be nearly four times as large as the existing one in the Villager Mall complex. The library, one of the city's busiest, has experienced big increases in both users of the facility and in books and other collections borrowed. Like the Urban League itself, the library has long been sorely in need of expanded space. Once they are located in the same building, the two organizations will be able to complement each other.
The new structure will front along South Park Street and is the first segment of a planned redevelopment of the entire Villager Mall -- the old Burr Oaks Shopping Center -- which has become a shadow of its once vibrant self. The city is negotiating on other improvements that promise in time to produce an attractive and bustling southern gateway to Madison.
But getting to this point has been a long struggle for the Urban League. Raising nearly $4 million hasn't been easy in this economy and there's still a way to go even though construction will be under way.
The Kresge Foundation recently came through with a $380,000 grant to help the project, but it's contingent on the Urban League raising the remaining $650,000 toward the $4 million goal by Oct. 1.
League President Scott Gray knows that this isn't a slam dunk, especially since the economy has continued to slide and money has become even more scarce.
But he's hopeful that the Madison community can meet the Kresge challenge to complete the financing of the new building, which would put the league on solid footing so it could concentrate on its many programs to lift people out of a cycle of poverty and need.
Over the years, I've personally witnessed how the Urban League has made a difference in people's lives -- in the early days under its first president, Nelson Cummings, through the eras of the late Betty Franklin-Hammonds and then Steve Braunginn. Now the charge is with Scott Gray and the needs are just as great, if not greater.
Its work often flies below the radar screen, but more than 2,000 young people benefit from its programs each year, hundreds of adults have been helped in finding jobs, and hundreds more have achieved the American dream of owning their homes thanks to help from the league.
The nonprofit league has a dedicated board of directors -- so dedicated, in fact, that its 14 members alone contributed more than $130,000 to this latest project. Now that's commitment.
Madison must face the challenges of a community out there that also flies below the radar screen -- the piece of our city that is struggling just to stay even.
A contribution to help the Urban League of Greater Madison meet that Kresge grant challenge will go a long way to help meet the challenges that we as a city face, too. Contributions can be sent to the league at 151 E. Gorham St., Madison, WI 53703.