A historic hub of the Bahama Village neighborhood is about to get an $8 million makeover, as the local construction company, Keystar, prepares to turn the historic Frederick Douglass Gym & Annex into the brand new Frederick Douglass Community Center.
A groundbreaking event will take place at 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 8, and work will start the following week, Karen Wilman, who manages the community redevelopment area of Bahama Village, told the Bahama Village Redevelopment Advisory Committee at its Aug. 7 meeting.
The BVRAC is charged with reviewing projects and recommending funding allocations for projects that benefit Bahama Village. A redevelopment area is a specific area determined to be “blighted” and in need of improvement. That area is able to retain the property taxes collected within its boundaries and spend that money on qualifying projects.
The Douglass Community Center is one such project.
The gym and annex property are currently home to a well-used gymnasium, after-school tutoring program, the Bahama Village Music Program and the District 6 city commissioner’s office. The new community center will also house the same services, plus an early childhood education program, a fitness center, new rooms for the music program, meeting spaces and other amenities, including a resource center.
At the Aug. 7 meeting, BVRAC chair Aaron Castillo told Keystar contractor Chas Spottswood, “I’m glad you guys are the ones doing this project. I love what you did with the aqueduct authority building.”
Spottswood assured the board, “We’ll make you proud on this one, too.”
“I know you will,” Castillo said. “And I’m excited about any project that benefits Bahama Village. And this one, I don’t know how we finally did it, but we did it.”
Wilman told the Bahama Village committee that the Bahama Village Music Program, which offers free music classes to Key West kids, has worked out a temporary arrangement with the Monroe County School District, and will relocate to district-owned space for this school year and the first half of the next school year.
After the groundbreaking, and before the demolition begins, the Key West Fire Department and the police department’s SWAT team may use the empty buildings for training purposes, Wilman said.
Construction is expected to wrap up in December 2024, Wilman said.
