At long last – almost 15 years after discussion began – Concord’s first City Wide Community Center has opened in the Heights on Canterbury Road, in a remarkably new and inspiring renovation of what was once Dame School. After the hard work of balancing needs and wants, the city and its taxpayers have made a sound investment, creating a fresh, modern space dedicated to community engagement, wellness, inclusiveness and diversity. It was worth it.
Like the hard-fought Main Street project, which has enlivened the downtown business district, we see the new City Wide Community Center as an important step in building the personal strength of our community – especially in the Heights, where neighborhoods are sequestered on either side of the Loudon Road fast food corridor. We hope the community center will be a magnet for drawing together those friends and families, from youngsters to seniors, and especially our newest residents, new Americans, who have settled in the Heights and brought much welcome change to our city.
The brick-and-mortar details of the $7.6 million renovation were polished off just in time for yesterday’s official ribbon-cutting. There is a high school-size gym, with an easy to maintain “sport court” floor durable enough for a variety of activities. Across the hall is a small auditorium – dedicated to the Dame School’s namesake, Concord’s Harriet Patience Dame, a battlefield nurse during the Civil War. There’s a large kitchen for teaching and food prep, new program rooms, a senior lounge and a space for a satellite branch of the Concord Public Library. This week, an eager group of summer campers gathered there for story time; a neighborhood resident worked on a laptop; a bright-eyed little boy poked around the children’s books. For many who can’t reach the main library downtown, this is a welcome place for enjoyment and learning. Elsewhere in the building, which is also home to the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, residents and nonresidents alike can take advantage of a wide range of programs, from basketball to pickleball, dance camp, and even Russian lessons. Too often today our sense of community is splintered – this is a place that invites us to come together and get to know each other, in many different ways. We need that.
We urge our readers to visit the new community center – just turn off Loudon Road onto Canterbury, between Walgreens and Pizza Hut. Down on the right, the white cupola still stands above what was the old Dame School. Alongside, a wide curved pathway leads to new glass doors and windows – like a Main Street storefront – that welcome visitors into a modern reception area. Much has been said about the blend of old and new that was forged into this project. We see it as a commitment to a strong future.