Roberta Jackson Center is still worth saving

I won’t make excuses and I won’t act like this shouldn’t have been taken care of a long time ago, but I have said before and will continue to make the argument that the Roberta Jackson Neighborhood Center is worth the investment it would take to bring it back to its former glory and have it serve as a much-needed facility in a neighborhood that would make good use of it.

Now, Michael, I will agree with you right off the bat that it is pretty ridiculous that we are, what, four years removed from the time that the city made the very necessary move to shutter the center, and there’s still no real plan in place… not even a bad plan. No plan whatsoever.

Here’s the bottom line, and I don’t like going here, but I think it’s true… if this neighborhood center was in a more affluent part of town, we would not be having this conversation. For much of the West Memphis community, it’s an out-of-sight, out-of-mind situation. Most West Memphis residents have probably never been inside the Roberta Jackson Neighborhood Center, so why should they care if it’s in a state of disrepair.

And I can kind of get that. When I recently told someone that West Memphis was getting a new library, they replied with “West Memphis has a library?” I guess if it’s not important to you, it’s not important to you.

But for those who have made use of the center, and for those who would make use of it in the future, it is important, and despite the hem-hawing and foot dragging the city council has done on getting it fixed up, that’s not an insignificant number of people.

I believe it was City Councilman Tracy Catt who first presented a comprehensive plan to renovate the center back in 2015 when it became clear such a plan was needed. He’s got a background and access to experts who would give it to him straight, and I have every bit of faith in his numbers.

Michael, you brought up the fact that the site was very nearly replaced with a brand new elementary school. I still can’t believe that the city and the West Memphis School District could not come to an agreement on that deal. With the money that the city would have netted from the sale of that land, a brand new center could have been built elsewhere. Or at least a huge chunk of the cost could have been offset by the funds. In either event, it was borderline embarrassing that sides could not meet on a figure that I believe was about $150,000 apart in negotiations.

I’m not one for throwing good money after bad, Michael, but it’s just another spoke in the wheel of trying to save West Memphis from its slow but continuing decline. Either the city is going to reverse that trend or it’s not, and if it is, it’s going to mean revitalizing and rehabbing the worst parts of the city. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain from investing the money it will take to make the Roberta Jackson once again a centerpiece of that community and something the people that live there can be proud of.

Just maybe, exercise a little better key control going forward.