COVINGTON — The Covington Community Center's move to larger quarters means Neil Nelson won't have to cram people into his living room or sit around a crowded deck to hold his neighborhood meetings.

        “We can't wait for the new place to open,” said Mr. Nelson, president of the Historic West 15th Street Association. “I told Dan (Petronio, the center's associate director) that we've already planned our next meeting for their building in January,” Mr. Nelson said.

Denise Dandridge, with the Covington Community Center, unpacks at the new building Thursday. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        The community center, a focal point for many community and civic endeavors, now spreads its operations throughout a three-story building at 1008 Lee St. and a nearby annex on Jackson Street. On Tuesday, the nonprofit's 17 employees will move into the new headquarters, a one-story building at 1650 Russell St.

        The new building nearly triples the center's usable space from 2,500 square feet to 7,400 square feet, Mr. Petronio said. It also is more centrally located and accessible to handicapped visitors.

        The center is leasing the new building, with an option to buy in two years. Leaders have launched a capital campaign to raise $580,000.

TO LEARN MORE

For more information about the center or its capital campaign, call Tom DiBello, executive director, at 491-2220.

        The Covington Community Center helps residents and community groups begin initiatives to solve neighborhood, school and individual problems. It often launches groups and associations and helps them obtain grants, and it has overseen beautification efforts in various neighborhoods.

        The center recently coordinated the Peaselburg community mural, and the Millennium Mosaic benches for a new park planned near Covington's riverfront. The center also worked with the Covington Neighborhood Collaborative on a number of projects, including last fall's candidate debates.

        Its family center provides assistance ranging from child care to parenting training to help with heating bills.

        “We want to enhance people's capacity to really shape their community — whether that be at the neighborhood level, the schools, or whatever,” Mr. Petronio said.

        Because its current offices are so cramped, employees sometimes have to ask Mr. Petronio or Executive Director Tom DiBello to temporarily vacate their offices, so they can meet privately with someone.

        Parking is another problem. With the offices having no off-street parking, visitors and staff often have to circle the block in search of space. The new center has 20 paved spaces and a large gravel lot.

        The center also will be able to accommodate larger community meetings — up to 40 people — instead of the maximum of 14 that can now squeeze into the space near the current center's main entrance.
       

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