Carousel House community angered by project delays, poor communication

Supporters of Carousel House the city s shuttered recreation center for people with disabilities are slamming the Rebuild campaign for falling behind on promises to reopen the facility while leaving them in the dark about the project s status Rebuild had mentioned a final design for a new building would be distributed last year and construction would begin this year but neither has happened Carousel House closed during the pandemic and since then users have been directed to Gustine Recreation Center a general-use facility that doesn t have a pool and provides inferior services for people with disabilities announced Tamar Riley president of the all-volunteer Carousel House Advisory Council The shutdown of the rec center in Fairmount Park s Centennial District has also excluded numerous expected players from an acclaimed youth wheelchair basketball crew Katie s Komets that for years was based at Carousel House unit founders Joe and Roseann Kirlin commented Carousel House the city s rec center for people with disabilities has been closed since March Google Maps The Kirlins argue the city should have made temporary repairs so the center could continue hosting practices and offering its other unique programs during the lengthy Rebuild process They had so a multitude of wonderful programs noted Roseann Kirlin whose late daughter Katie was a national champion wheelchair athlete They had stuff all day They had stuff at night Dances movies arts and crafts music lessons Joe Kirlin disclosed They made a terrible mistake closing that place Representatives at the city s Rebuild office haven t responded to their inquiries about the project since last summer Riley and the Kirlins commented In June over people gathered in the heat to protest the city s plan to convert Carousel House the special requirements society center into an inclusive center for disabled and able-bodied users Emily Cohen for WHYY Rebuild the city s million soda tax-funded undertaking to rehab playgrounds rec centers and libraries has been faulted for falling far behind its initial goal of completing projects within six years The city launched the campaign in and has so far finished projects Capital Programs director Aparna Palantino explained at a latest City Council hearing I m and so is my husband Roseann Kirlin noted I hate to say this but we ll allegedly be dead before the Carousel House reopens Parks and Recreation commissioner Susan Slawson declined to be interviewed Spokespeople for Parks and Rebuild stated they re still analyzing the Carousel House building and site and they plan to bid out construction work in summer Rebuild expects the project to be completed in summer The project association is working diligently to deal with the complexities of building in a historic district while collaborating with designers to deliver the highest-impact project doable within budget and ready to begin construction next year Rebuild spokesperson Lloyd Salasin-Deane reported in an email A spokesman for Councilmember Curtis Jones whose district includes the site noted he would look into the matter but did not offer any comment A plan to double the size of Carousel House Once the nation s only city-funded rec center for people with disabilities Carousel House closed in March at the start of the pandemic and never reopened The Department of Parks and Recreation explained extensive repair demands a new roof HVAC system and dehumidification system and fixes for the steel structure and the pool were cost-prohibitive and had left the building unsafe to use It should be demolished the city concluded Following an outcry and protests the city promised to replace the now- -year-old structure with a better more inclusive facility that would serve both people with disabilities and the surrounding neighborhood Rebuild publicized a planning and construction schedule that envisioned a new building opening by The city contracted with several firms Philadelphia s DIGSAU design studio Seattle-based architecture and accessibility firm Studio Pacifica landscape architecture firm Ground Reconsidered and Locality Quota Builders for region engagement In March Rebuild and a design organization presented design ideas for an expanded Carousel House at a group design workshop Rebuild A series of virtual and in-person events were held in and to get population input and present ideas In March the design gang explained the new Carousel House would be more than double the size of the old one with two full-length basketball courts a lap pool and activity pool a multi-purpose atrium locker rooms and fitness art sensory and computer lab rooms according to the project website The project still appeared on track if slightly delayed after Mayor Cherelle Parker took office last year In February Rebuild held another virtual meeting to discuss plans for an expanded outdoor playground accessible parking spots and other details Construction would start in and finish up in executives commented Soon after Parker reorganized Rebuild Executive director Kira Strong left or was dismissed Parker put the undertaking directly under Palantino and the Carousel House project seemed to go into limbo Riley and the Kirlins declared Months of radio silence Riley stated she emailed Rebuild last June and was stated the undertaking was in transition Emails that she and other advisory council members sent in January and February went unanswered she disclosed Riley whose adult son had been visiting Carousel House since he was a teen declared she became concerned Rebuild might be tossing out its well-advanced plans for an inclusive rec center in favor of designing a disabled-only facility instead which could set back construction by years If they don t want to have it inclusive anymore that s fine with us but they re not telling us anything she reported Does this mean that they have to start from the drawing board again It s been three years since we ve been working on this project and then all of a sudden now it s just going back to what it s supposed to be We may not see this in my lifetime you know what I m saying she announced In a February presentation Rebuild personnel and designers disclosed Carousel House would reopen in That date has been pushed back to Rebuild Salasin-Deane reported Rebuild would get in touch with Riley and he ratified the new facility will still be inclusive intended to serve the Carousel House neighborhood as well as the local East and West Parkside communities The project will renovate and expand the existing building he revealed There will be a new gymnasium wing playground and parking lot and drop-off area as well as sidewalk and interior walkway upgrades new mechanical plumbing and lighting systems updated finishes and furnishings and a reconfigured interior layout The final design will be presented to the group when it is ready Salasin-Deane explained The project has been delayed in part because of the complexity of underground utilities and other issues at the property which was once the site of the Centennial Exhibition s Main Exhibition building he disclosed We are now conducting necessary underground utility analysis building structural analysis archeology research and stormwater management planning These investigations will also inform the design of the final building site and required permits he disclosed Parks spokesperson Ra Chelle Rogers announced the project budget is million which would be substantially higher than previously communicated Riley disclosed she d last heard it would cost million while the Kirlins disclosed they d heard figures ranging from million to million The project website had in the past few days pegged the cost at million College scholarships at menace After Carousel House closed the city declared it was relocating programs for disabled users to Gustine Rec Center on Ridge Avenue in East Falls Gustine has a gym multipurpose room arts room and a small kitchen but it lacks a weight room a pool a place for parents to wait while their kids do engagements or sufficient parking for paratransit vehicles Riley announced A lot of those rooms serve two or three purposes because there s still programs coming in so it s not like the whole building is dedicated to the Carousel House programs They make it work but it s nothing like having your own space she noted Carousel House was just entirely different from these recreation centers that they now have Solicited about the complaints Rogers mentioned Gustine Recreation Center is ADA-accessible and remains available for use by individuals with disabilities The Katie s Komets youth wheelchair basketball club formerly practiced at Carousel House Billy Penn file photo The closure of the old facility displaced an adult wheelchair basketball unit the Magee Spokesmen to a different site in Philadelphia The Kirlins youth project now practices at a private facility in New Jersey that is inaccessible to plenty of city kids Before city kids could get paratransit to the Carousel House and we would pay for it Now paratransit don t go across the bridge Joe Kirlin announced So for the first time ever we don t have a Black kid on our band We have Black kids and Latino kids but not from the city of Philadelphia because there s no facility in the city for them to practice He noted that Katie s Komets players regularly parlay their wheelchair basketball talents into college scholarships including three of this year s graduating seniors We re depriving city kids of an opportunity to go to college for sports because Parks Recreation closed the Carousel House he revealed Urged about Katie s Komets Rogers stated The youth wheelchair basketball project was moved to another location at the organizer s discretion Salasin-Deane noted that Parks Rec has worked with the association to accommodate particular local activities including a wheelchair basketball tournament at Mayfair Rec Center in early March and practices at Pelbano Rec Center The post Carousel House public angered by project delays poor communication appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY