New Tolson Center Arises from Historic Roots
A child carrying a ball runs across the grass on a glorious summer evening.
He was looking toward the crowd that had gathered on the lawn at Tolson Center for Community Excellence.
He was eager to join what was emerging — as are so many others in our community. He was eager to see what is happening at Tolson Center.
For decades, people, particularly young people, have gathered at 1300 Benham Avenue, Elkhart. As a child, Norman Anderson flew kites on the property that had nothing other than the Abshire Car Wash.
After a youth center opened in 1991, he saw the community come to play basketball and learn life lessons. Tolson’s adult leaders would lead bus trips to sporting events and college campuses. Tolson Center was a key part of the village raising its children.
Over the last decade, Tolson was in decline. “That was really hard to watch because it meant so much to so many people,” said Cyneatha Millsaps, whose family had been involved as participants, volunteers, and employees.
When the Elkhart City Council voted in mid-2018 to stop funding Tolson Center, the decision saddened Cyneatha and others. Norman was disappointed that the city didn’t have another vision to meet the needs of those on the south side of Elkhart. The decision
rippled through Elkhart and beyond. “Whether you are still living in south central Elkhart or grew up through south central, your hearts are still in south central,” said Cyneatha. And those with their hearts in that place felt the pain of this milestone.
People quickly urged some sort of action in response, and Pete McCown of the Community Foundation of Elkhart County and Levon Johnson of the Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce left their offices and met at Central Park to discuss the matter.
That led to the creation of a task force and then community forums to discuss future plans. The 500 or so people who offered suggestions said Tolson needed to be not just a youth center, but a place that could serve the community as a whole and in doing so, make it more whole.
The Community Foundation, Elkhart Chamber, and Elkhart City collaborated to create a new 15-member board in July 2020 that would in turn create a new organization and center. Cyneatha had offered her help to Rod Roberson, who was running for mayor of Elkhart. After he won, he appointed her to the board and then those people selected her as the president. “I tell people all the time this is the most diverse board I have ever been on, let alone chaired,” she said.
A public-private partnership was forged with the goal of creating a freestanding nonprofit that could guide Tolson into the future. It achieved nonprofit status in October 2021. Consultants and architects GreenPlay LLC, RRC Associates, and Jones Petrie Rafinski helped envision what the center would look like. Architects and consultants helped add details to the vision.
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All of this takes funding and the Community Foundation was at the center of helping arrange the funding. So far, $11 million has been pledged. The City of Elkhart appropriated $5 million and has agreed to give $700,000 a year to support the ongoing work. Lilly Endowment Inc. and the Community Foundation both committed $2 million. Another $2 million has been given or pledged privately. About $1.5 million more is needed because of rising construction costs.
The new building will have 30,000 square feet, including two gymnasiums. Outdoors, tennis/pickleball courts will be alongside basketball courts and a socer field.
The board and others discussed whether to rehabilitate the existing building, but costs and logistics led to the decision to demolish completely and rebuild. After items were removed and auctioned, demolition began in July and construction by DJ Construction is expected to be completed in fall 2023.
Breanna Allen, who worked at Ivy Tech Community College and then Horizon Education Alliance, became the new executive director in April. She remembered how excited her Latino students at Ivy Tech had been as they partnered with Tolson Center to raise money for scholarships. She remembered hearing the news that Tolson would close. Now she gets to help guide its construction and reopening with Cyneatha and others. Breanna said it’s been fun so far and that will continue.
When several hundred people came to the groundbreaking on May 24, people danced. They applauded as the new dirt was turned with golden shovels. The excitement was so evident as people celebrated what was and what is to come.
Breanna wants to reignite that excitement at Tolson that has been a part of its deep history and was evident in her students. The passion of the adults who remember will mix with the exuberance of youth as the new Tolson serves the community with sports leagues, youth activities, and space for family and community events.
“The hope is that Tolson Center for Community Excellence will be that safe, educational, recreational hub not only for south central Elkhart but for Elkhart,” said Cyneatha. “People will come once again and participate in activities going on there.”
Tolson will shape future generations of children and their families. “I think it’s going to be very important to Elkhart. It can be the hub of most of the activities going on in Elkhart,” Norm Anderson said. It will bring Elkhart together again.
This story appeared in the 2022 Annual Report.
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