Program Guide Winter/Spring 2024

The design consultant team took its cues from this rich history and culture, which will be celebrated in the new WCNCC. It used some of the historical context learned from the public engagement events and focus groups, where it asked residents what they wanted to see. Vision Emerging Early on, Blanton, McCray and Shawna Tillery, Parks and Recreation’s current planning and project development manager, convened a group of community stakeholders, including Watson. In 2019, the outreach expanded into a wide range of community events, like a backpack giveaway and a Dudley High School football game. At community events and in online surveys, more than 900 participants gave their opinions. That kind of extensive outreach is unique, said Victor Vines, the principal-in-charge of the project and president of Vines Architecture. Some key themes emerged: A large indoor aquatic facility with a lazy river was a key amenity people wanted. It would be a return to that large swimming pool, described as the size of a lake, that was in that spot 90 years ago. “The pool and the idea of swimming and teaching swimming in the new facility were paramount,” Vines says. “A lot of times the older facilities are demolished or torn down and something new comes back and whatever was most important to the community was lost.” That won’t happen in this project, he said. Fitness programs and basketball courts were important, as was a mix of activities for all generations and backgrounds. Access to computers, technology, and Wi-Fi were also critical. Residents wanted an indoor-outdoor connection in a high visibility, inclusive space of learning and knowledge. They wanted to reconnect the spaces into a new beacon of hope and pride for the community.

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The Nocho Park community opened the first Windsor Community and Recreation Center in 1937. It was named for William Blackstone Windsor, the superintendent of the Greensboro Negro Schools, and featured a bathhouse, a “lake-sized” swimming pool, tennis court, and playground. When the recreation center was redeveloped in the 1960s, it lost many of its original features but added a modern pool and indoor basketball facilities. The neighborhood was home to the Carnegie Negro Library, a preeminent free library that served the Black community for nearly 40 years. The Vance H. Chavis Library – touted for its extensive collection of Black authors – opened across the street from the recreation center in the 1960s. It was named for the educator, politician, and activist who was the first Black man to serve on a redevelopment commission in the United States. A Changed Neighborhood Mid-20th century growth and development of the city dramatically changed Nocho Park. US Highway 29 and later the four-lane Gate City Boulevard were developed, bisecting Nocho Park and separating the parkland, recreation center, and library. Many historic commercial and institutional properties were lost. The public housing communities Morningside Homes and Ray Warren Homes were built during this era, forever changing the fabric of the community. Residents have not forgotten that history. “The historical and cultural significance of this community was very clear and evident to the residents. There was a lot of heartbreak over what the community used to be and how that was not respected. Residents didn’t just want something new. They wanted a destination that respected the past while creating a place where future generations could remember where the community came from,” McCray says.

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