Atrisco Hills gets a new center
5,010-square-foot facility replaces portable buildings previously on site
It doubles its previous size, providing an activity room, computer lab and game room for the public as well as a site for beforeand after-school and summer recreation programs.
Area leaders and community members recently marked the completion of the newly constructed Joan Jones Community Center at Atrisco Hills.
“If Joan were here today, she’d be screaming and hollering in joy, there’s no two ways about it,” James Jones said of his late wife at a news conference last Thursday. “So many times when we were in those old temporary classroom buildings, she said the people here deserve better.”
The $2 million, 5,010-squarefoot center located in the Pat Hurley Neighborhood took 13 months to build, according to a city news release.
“Originally, the portable buildings were too small to accommodate the public,” West Side representative City Councilor Ken Sanchez said in a statement. “Now this community center will offer amenities and programs to all residents of all ages in the area while creating a place to interact with each other and be active in the Pat Hurley community.”
But Sanchez, at the news conference, said this is Phase One and “Phase One is not enough. We want a gym here and there’s going to also be additional exercise rooms in this location.”
The city said voters approved additional funds in the last election to build out Phase Two of the site for a warming kitchen, a fitness room and a basketball court.
“The previous center was a small, 2,500 (square foot), portable that lacked in amenities that it provided,” Douglas H. Chaplin, director of the city’s Department of Family and Community Services, said in the release, adding that the new center “will help to reach thousands of people from the community each year.”
The center — previously known as the Pat Hurley Community Center — is named after Joan Jones, who was a former Pat Hurley Neighborhood Association president and community advocate.