The City of Crawford could be a metaphor for blighted small towns across the state — low on population and funding with decaying buildings and high unemployment rates. But the citizens of Crawford are resilient to adversity and tenacious in spirit. And the tenacity of the town paid off Saturday as a new community center opened its doors to not only its guests and visitors but to hope as well.
Lowndes County District 4 Supervisor represents the City of Crawford, and he said the process to get the community center has been a three-year effort.
“We talked this up and down for three years,” Smith said. “It feels great to get this building opened. This community deserves a good facility. It will improve not only the quality of life in Crawford but in all of Lowndes County.”
Smith said the money used for the community center stems from a capital improvement venture between the county and the City of Columbus. $850,000 was earmarked through the Columbus-Lowndes Recreation Authority for several projects.
“We had $850,000 to use for five projects,” he said. “The Crawford building was the final project.”
According to City-Data.com, Crawford has a population of approximately 640 people, 93 percent of whom are African-American. The median household income is approximately $15,000, which is well below the state average of $36,646. The unemployment rate is 11.1 percent, which is the highest it has been in more than a decade. Much like the rest of the country, Crawford has faced some challenging economic times. Alderwoman at large Vemitra White said the new community center could provide opportunities for the town’s unemployed.
“This is so good for the city,” White said. “I have been involved with the whole process to get the community center opened, and it has been a struggle at times. But now that it is opened, we plan on hosting programs at the new building. We are hoping to bring in some programs and classes for our citizens that are not working. We want to do something to help keep them engaged.”
White said programs were already being implemented for senior citizens and children.
Crawford native Gwen King has been a part of the community center process since its inception. King said she had a vision for the project long before it was completed.
“We have badly needed this for a long time,” King said. “I went to the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors to discuss this need — I wasn’t even allowed to speak the first time. But finally we were told that Caledonia wasn’t going to participate in the project and that (Crawford) was on the list and that we would get the funding. We were elated.”
The new community center could be the beginning of several new changes for the citizens of Crawford. First-term mayor Fred Tolon said more things are on the horizon.
“This gives the citizens a sense of pride,” Tolon said. “This is a community that feels like it has been left out. We have done some things to improve the city’s water and we are going to do the same with our sewer system. We have several projects that will make this community a better place to live.”
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