MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Harbor City suddenly has fewer places for children to play and for seniors to get a meal.
The city of Melbourne said Tuesday’s storms collapsed part of the roof at the Joseph Davis Community Center on Buggs Street.
Wednesday, a neighbor told Brevard County community correspondent James Sparvero how much she’ll miss the community center while the building is under repair.
“Too much stuff goes on here that helps the neighborhood for any tragedy like this to be happening,” Janice Blackmon said. “We need this community center.”
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Blackmon said her grandson played basketball at the community center, which was also her voting location.
Workers put a tarp on the roof Wednesday and one of them told Sparvero they will have to take apart the damaged roof piece by piece.
The city said the community center will be closed indefinitely during that time.
Blackmon asked, “Where else can our kids go if we don’t have this community center? They need to fix it right now.”
The city relocated a backpack giveaway it was planning at the community center as part of a back-to-school event.
Now on Saturday, Aug. 2, it’s going to be held at the Eddie Lee Taylor Community Center, which is less than a mile away on Monroe Street.
Sparvero also called Aging Matters in Brevard, which gives food away to seniors every weekday at the community center to seniors.
ClickOrlando.com will add any response from the senior-services agency to this story.
A full response from the city can be read below:
During the storms yesterday afternoon, part of the roof collapsed at the Joseph N. Davis Community Center (2547 Bruce D. Buggs Street).
City staff are currently working to mitigate damage to the interior of the community center. Structural engineers and the City’s insurance company are assessing the damage to the building and are working with staff to determine repair options.
Joseph N. Davis Community Center Closed Until Further Notice
The Joseph N. Davis Community Center will remain closed until we can make the appropriate repairs to make the building safe. We do not presently know how long that will be. We will provide updates as soon as we have more information.
Events and Activities
The August 2 Back to School Backpack Giveaway will now be held at Eddie Lee Taylor, Sr. Community Center (3316 Monroe Street). All other events and rentals at the community center have been temporarily canceled. Residents may wish to visit one of the City’s other community centers for activities like basketball and pickleball. For current schedules, please visit our website.
If you have a question about programs, events or rentals that were scheduled to be held at Joseph N. Davis Community Center, please call 321-608-7400.
We apologize for the inconvenience the closure of Joseph N. Davis Community Center has caused. Staff will be working diligently to bring this important community resource back as soon as possible.
Cheryl Mall | Public Information Officer | City of Melbourne