‘Not just a building.’ Pasco Black leaders upset after MLK center remodel is slashed

For almost 50 years, east Pasco’s Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center has been a focal point of a historically disadvantaged community.

Now, many in that community are upset that the aging MLK building isn’t getting the number of improvements that they believe were promised by the city of Pasco.

“The center is not just a building,” former Councilman Irving Brown told the Pasco City Council earlier this week. “It’s a symbol of our collective commitment to justice, equality, community and solidarity.”

Brown is the current president of NAACP Tri-Cities.

He and others contend the city didn’t properly explain to the public why it gave some of the money that could have gone toward the remodel to a different project and why it didn’t choose a more extensive renovation plan.

The city is now proposing moving forward with a budget of $6.5 million — nearly half the cost of one of the initial proposals for modernizing the facility.

That’s angered many in the community who feel strongly about the building that’s been a cornerstone of the east Pasco community.

Brown started an online petition aimed at forcing the city council to give the public a better explanation of its decision, to develop a more robust renovation plan and to make a continued effort at engaging with the community.

So far, 23 have signed his petition.

Benjie Allen-Griffin also urged the council this week to change course.

She’s the vice president of the NAACP Tri-Cities and associate pastor at Morning Star Baptist Church, described by the National Parks Service as the “literal and figurative center of East Pasco’s African American community.”

“Please consider the following: Bring this item back for discussion at a workshop meeting,” she told the city council.

“Ensure that funds are distributed equally to all community organizations that qualify. Reach out in detail to the community regarding the center as it goes through much needed renovations. Continue efforts to search for funding.”

Mayor Pete Serrano acknowledged the five members of the community who spoke on the issue.

“We’ve talked about the need to have the conversation and address some of these concerns,” he said.

Richa Sigdel, deputy city manager, later told the Herald that there will be future discussions about the building.

“As a city, we’re really committed to MLK because it’s such an important building for Pasco,” Sigdel said. “We’re working right now on what we can do on the ground, like parse the project out in phases and at what cost.”

Finding the money for a more extensive renovation has been the challenge.

Preserving Black history

Built in 1975, the MLK center is historically significant because of its connection to the Black experience in east Pasco during the postwar period and the Civil Rights era.

For decades, it’s been a hub for recreation, education, social services and community events in east Pasco.

Community member Elouise Sparks remembers watching basketball games in the gym there. She volunteered at the center from the late ‘80s to the early ‘90s.

“It was a safe place to call our own,” Sparks said. “To have a place named after Martin Luther King Jr., in the neighborhood where we lived, was significant.”

Today, the 22,200-square-foot facility is home to the Benton Franklin Head Start learning center and the YMCA of Greater Tri-Cities’ teen room, computer area, weight room and gym where people of all ages play indoor soccer and basketball.

The center currently serves an estimated 4,400 K-12 students and children each year.

Sparks described how over time, the Black population moved out of east Pasco and more Latinos moved there. The change in the neighborhood’s demographics drives who uses the MLK center today.

Just down the street from the center at Virgie Robinson Elementary, 95% of students last year were low income and 74% were English language learners.

Tensions rise over historic center

The MLK center has needed major upgrades for years.

Since 2021, the city has been considering various improvements. The project has received a $3 million federal grant, $2.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money from the city and a $980,000 Washington state grant.

“The challenge with any construction project in any year, the cost just keeps going up. When we got the funding, it was before and during COVID, so we know we will need more to complete the project,” Sigdel previously told the Herald.

After some community meetings that gathered suggestions and comments from people in the neighborhood, the designers from the team at Architects West, a Spokane-based firm, offered three proposals and estimated costs:

• Renovate and expand — $11.2 million

• Partial demolition, renovation and expansion — $12.3 million

• Total demolition and new construction — $12.5 million

But the city is planning to move ahead with the $6.5 million renovation.

“It seems like there is a lack of transparency about where the funds are going,” community member Andre Griffin told the city council. “The question is, ‘Who’s handling the money?’ If money is allocated for a specific group, that’s where it needs to go. That’s what it’s for.”

Both the MLK center and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton and Franklin Counties were originally selected to receive some of the ARPA funding.

Boys & Girls Clubs serves 1,300 children each year.

Sigdel said in a statement to the Herald that the city council later decided to reallocate the $1.26 million from the Boys & Girls Clubs to the MLK center, leaving the Boys & Girls Clubs’ Pasco Clubhouse on 18th Avenue without funding for its renovation. Then last month, the city council reversed the decision and reinstated the money to the Boys & Girls Clubs.

“We know that both of the facilities badly need upgrades,” Sigdel told the Herald. “Our hope is that by allocating the funds to both buildings, we can help meet the needs of the communities that they’re serving.”

Future building plans

The tentative plan for the MLK center is to include ADA accessibility upgrades, new heating and cooling systems, and improvements to floors and walls.

It’s unclear when the project would start.

Sparks said the MLK center needs more to meet the needs of that community, especially an additional gym space.

“If you are going to have a community building, make it so it’s inclusive,” she said. “Keep the diversity.”

Architects West and the city have proposed different ways to commemorate the building’s history.

Ideas still being considered include using existing bricks and concrete blocks in the renovation, building a memorial wall, preserving the mural in the teen room, creating a virtual 3D building scan, installing a plaque, displaying historic photos, naming rooms and spaces after community members who helped establish the existing building, and featuring local artwork depicting historic community events.

Ryan Mahaffey is the Pasco Public Works department’s capital improvements project manager on the project.

He said that a complete demolition of the building would be a costly option.

“We would have to double the amount of money that we have right now to even look at starting fresh,” Mahaffey told the city council.