Blight removal to help expand Booker T. Washington Community Center

Macon-Bibb County is making areas surrounding the Booker T. Washington Community Center cleaner and safer by demolishing three blighted homes next door.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Macon-Bibb County is making areas surrounding the Booker T. Washington Community Center cleaner and safer by demolishing three blighted homes next door.

60 children attend the center’s youth programs each day. Kids like Naiem Moore have to pass dilapidated homes on their walk to the center.

“I feel like something needs to be done about these houses,” Moore said. “Nobody really thinks about building these houses up around this neighborhood.”

Tedra Huston, the Executive Director of the Macon-Bibb Community Enhancement Authority who works in the center, says she’s happy to see improvements being made.

“That investment is showing them that we want them to finish high school, we want them to finish college, or go into a trade after high school,” Huston explained. “It’s an investment, and it’s showing them that their community … not only their community, but their city is invested in them.”

Cass Hatcher, a blight consultant for Macon-Bibb, says the blight removal will help the Booker T. Washington Community Center be fully restored to its former glory.

“This was a fully comprehensive project in terms of what we’re trying to do with Booker T. Washington,” Hatcher said. “This has been a total commitment to Pleasant Hill.”

By demolishing the three blighted homes surrounding the community center, Huston says the space can be used to expand the center’s outreach.

“We’ll be able to have picnic tables out here sometimes,” Huston said. “We’ll also be able to have musical programs where we can set things up and have a stage … closing down the streets like Open Streets Macon and just really utilize this space.”