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DURHAM -- Annie Vample's great grandfather was George Wall, the founder and namesake of the Walltown community.
Vample doesn't live in the community any more, but she was there on Saturday. "Oh, it's still home here and I wouldn't have missed this for the world," she said. "We've been waiting for this for a long time."
The ceremonial opening and community day at the Walltown Park Recreation Center on West Club Boulevard Saturday drew dozens of neighborhood members who had waited for decades to see their dream realized.
"This neighborhood never has had a community center," said local activist Ernestine Hooker. "I remember talking about this back in 1979."
The historically black community has been pressing for a rec center even earlier than that, trying to realize a promise that they felt had been made to the area as the days of segregation waned.
Walltown Community Association President Audrey Mitchell, another longtime neighborhood resident, recalled that "as children, we had no place to go," but that "the city said, years ago, that we couldn't build a center."
"But that's exactly what we did," she said, "we built this beautiful building."
The actual process to construct the center began in 1994, when community representatives began meeting with city staff to discuss Walltown's needs. Over the years, design changes, cost overruns and criticism over the political connections of the lead architect plagued and delayed the completion of the $8.8 million project.
But the new center was worth waiting for, said community resident Lavern Robinson, who lives just two blocks away.
"This is just beautiful," Robinson said as he walked through the bright pastel-colored walls into the large gym. "Everything looks so fresh. I can't wait to use it."
Robinson said he planned to use the elevated walking track above the gym -- "Today's direction -- runners on the inside, walkers on the outside" -- and the weight machines, which overlook the track.
The 26,000-square foot center also features a computer lab, a culinary teaching kitchen, a senior center, teen center and spiffy new locker rooms.
On Wedneday, the center officially will open with limited hours and offer youth and teen after-school programs during the week. The target date for a full opening of the facility is Oct. 4.
With all it does have, the center doesn't have a swimming pool, which community members had hoped would be included in the building. But a limited amount of parking at the site and a hefty price tag for adding the pool convinced city council members that the idea was not worth pursuing at this time.
"We are sad we still don't have our swimming pool," Mitchell said. "But we're going to keep petitioning for it. We appreciate everything that's been done," she added, "but this is not the end."
