The Asarese-Matters Community Center wants to keep youths off the streets of the West Side but is in danger of shutting down this year when Erie County’s contract with the City of Buffalo runs out, the center’s recreational director said.
The city’s five year, $1.8 million dollar a year, contract with the county to run the city’s community centers ends on July 1, 2009. If the city does not decide to run its own centers by then, they will close,
Mike Milovich, the center’s recreational director said. Milovich has held the job at Asarese-Matters for 20 years, and it would mark the center’s first closing during that time.
Youths that have come to view the center as a second home could be severely impacted by its closing.
“Look out,” said Milovich. “I’m not just saying this neighborhood. I’m saying ‘look out’ city wide.”
Under Erie County Executive Christopher C. Collins, the county realized it was spending more than $1.8 million on the recreation centers, said Milovich. The county then issued a notice to the city on June 12, 2008, that it would no longer finance the recreation centers as of July 1, 2009.
The Asarese-Matters Community Center is a multi-cultural center for ages eight to 18 that provides sports recreation, tutoring, a computer lab with internet access, a public pool, and programs in the fine arts such as dancing or art.
Sometimes all youths need from centers like Asarese-Matters is an adult who shows he or she cares. Many of them depend on the center to be there for them after school as a safe alternative rather than going home where conditions may be less than ideal. Some youths that use the center already know it may close and have strong opinions on the issue, said Milovich.
“They’ve interviewed kids about this already,” Milovich said. “Kids say, ‘I’ll tell you what, you close this, all I got left is the street.’”
In addition to possibly closing, the community center is contending with security issues such as broken covers for the security lights mounted on the building’s brick exterior. The security lights are meant to aid the youths as they leave the building at night when the community center closes at 10 p.m. A window pane on the ceiling of the lobby is completely spider-cracked.
“If it’s a capital improvement in this building like a new roof or something like that, a new boiler, the city is liable for it,” said Milovich. “If it’s a repair, the county is liable for it. So, now, if there is a hole in the roof, the city says the county has to plug that hole, and the county says no you need a new roof.”
Although repairs were requested months ago, the City of Buffalo and Erie County do not agree on the issue of whether any maintenance problem needs repairs or replacement, said Milovich.
"We replace bulbs, but the fixtures are now broken, and that becomes the city’s responsibility,” said Marcia Maracel, director of Parks and Recreation for Eire County. “We are aware it is an issue, and the city has been looking into it.”
While the county and the city argue that each repair or replacement is the other party’s business, “nothing gets done,” Milovich said.
“That’s why you see that window like that, that’s why there’s no security lights because they’re all smashed out.”
Before the five year contract with Erie County, the City of Buffalo ran its recreation centers and parks. It was an era when “all departments worked together,” said Milovich.
“If there was something going on and you needed signs to block the streets, the streets department came down and blocked the streets so you could run your ‘rec’ event,” said Milovich. “The county came in and separated all of us.”