Rubonia residents react to nonprofit's decision to not reopen community center

RUBONIA -- New Path Academy's decision to not pursue reopening the Rubonia Community Center was a half step backward for the community, a Rubonia resident said Wednesday.

"I call it a half step back, not a full step back," said Morris Goff, a lifelong Rubonia resident. "We thought it was going to happen."

In an email sent Tuesday afternoon, Jennifer Radebach, president and CEO of New Path Academy, announced the nonprofit's decision. New Path Academy, in partnership with two other organizations including the Rubonia Community Association, submitted the sole proposal to Manatee County to acquire and operate the center, 1309 72nd St. E., which has been closed since 2013.

"It was shocking to me," said Goff, who is part of the Rubonia Community Association.

The Rubonia neighborhood is off U.S. 41, between Palmetto and Interstate 275. The center, which needs more than $133,300 in repairs, was deeded to the county from the Manatee County School Board in October 2014.

While New Path Academy's decision is a "roadblock," Goff said they are going to keep doing what they've been doing with or without the center open.

"It doesn't stop us from trying to advocate and provide some of the services to the people," he said. "If Rubonia has to have a partner, we are going to keep searching for a partner. New Path came up with a great idea in the beginning, but it may not have matched what people in Rubonia wanted."

The Rubonia Community Association has been using two community churches to provide some services to the community, which Goff said

it will continue to do until the center is reopened.

Some Rubonia residents had expressed concern with an outside group coming in to acquire and operate the center rather than having the community run it.

"The people of Rubonia do have mixed emotions," Goff said. "Not everybody was in agreement with the partnership that we tried to get installed."

Manatee County had been ready since Dec. 15 to finalize the process with New Path Academy.

While Goff said he understood programs wouldn't have happened at the center before this year anyway, New Path Academy didn't submit an application through the Children's Services Advisory Board for summer funds.

"They didn't and it hit me very hard that there was nothing for the summer program," Goff said.

With the closed community center, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County stepped forward last summer to provide a nine-week free summer program for Rubonia children between the ages of 5 and 17. Manatee County Commission approved an agreement with the nonprofit totaling $30,601 for the program last year.

Goff said he is hoping the commission will see the community is without a summer program yet again and allocate emergency funds to the Rubonia Community Association to allow it to provide summer programs for children this year.

"It's a great concern," Goff said. "That's why Rubonia itself wants to try to do something for the summer while we are still waiting for the center to open. The focus is to get a summer program for Rubonia and to continue with the hopes to get the center."

Derrick Randall, who grew up in Rubonia, has a weekly program for Rubonia children at one of the churches. Randall is looking into expanding the program to five days a week during the summer.

"The kids look forward to it," Randall said. "It's a good thing. It's a really good thing. If the program wasn't being offered, there is nothing out there for them to do."

Despite the closed community center, the community has come together to provide programs for the children, Randall said.

"We are making a way to give them enough to keep them progressing," he said. "We are all after the same goal."

Randall said he never stopped doing what he was doing anyway.

"I continue to try to stay active in the community," he said. "I just hope somewhere in the near future that we are able to get all the projects and events under one umbrella."

On Tuesday afternoon, Cheri Coryea, county neighborhood services director, said the county plans to come up with an alternate plan to reopen the center.

If the Rubonia Community Association doesn't get another partner, Goff said the community is hoping the county sees the association can run the center.

"We want the county to see that we aren't just a group of people out here that are saying, 'Open the center, open the center' and nothing will get done," he said. "We have projects. The people of Rubonia trust us. It is just up to the county commission to give us a little trust. Our interest is Rubonia itself, and let Rubonia become self-sufficient again. We want to have what we call an umbrella of services that we can bring in there."

The community has all the programs in place, but funding would be the issue, Randall said.

"We've done enough due diligence on our own to show that we can provide the events and things for the community center," he said. "Now we know that we can do those things. The center may be closed but we are doing those things. ... At this point in time, the community has shown on its own that it is sufficient enough to produce programs."

The community is more equipped than the first time with the center, Randall said.

"We have been progressing without it," he said. "It taught the community that through adversity it only strengthened us. It didn't tear us down. It strengthened us. The community has stepped up to the bat. When the community center opens back up, you place everything back in. You have to go through trials and tribulations to realize the essence of what you have. It's like a blessing in disguise. It really initiated the community to come back together."

Claire Aronson, Manatee County reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7024. Follow her on Twitter @Claire_Aronson.

This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 11:46 PM with the headline "Rubonia residents react to nonprofit's decision to not reopen community center ."