GRAND BOULEVARD — One of Bronzeville’s crown jewels has received a substantial grant to continue restoration efforts as the woman who spearheaded the project steps down from her post.
The Renaissance Collaborative, Inc. has been awarded a $436,375 grant through an African American Civil Rights grant program to restore the gymnasium and swimming pool of the Wabash YMCA, 3757 S. Wabash Ave., along with an 87-year-old mural that graces the grand ballroom.
The grant is provided by the Historic Preservation Fund, which is administered by the National Park Service. The Wabash Y is one of only two projects in the region funded in this cycle and the sole project in the state.
The announcement comes as The Renaissance Collaborative’s founding Executive Director Patricia Abrams prepares to retire after 25 years of service. She will be replaced by Hyde Park native Oji Eggleston, who recently served as executive director of Chicago Survivors, a nonprofit that helps families recovering from violent crime.
The Renaissance Collaborative was created in 1992 for the purpose of saving the 112-year-old landmark from the wrecking ball, with the ultimate goal of converting it into apartments for unhoused residents and a community center for the neighborhood. The organization has since expanded its efforts to Hyde Park, where it operates a senior housing complex.
It took Abrams and The Renaissance Collaborative nearly a decade to raise the $1.1 million necessary to reopen the Wabash YMCA building, which began accepting residents in 2000.
The landmark is known as the birthplace of Black History Month and one of several community spaces on the South Side where Black residents could gather, with social clubs and movement meetings being held there. Among its many residents was Walter Marshall “Major” Taylor, the country’s first professional Black cyclist.
After 23 years of wear and tear, it was time for a refresh, Abrams told Block Club.
“I tell people all the time that being in a historic landmark building is a blessing and a curse, because you’re limited in the things you can do. We thought [about] what was originally [part of the building] and [what] was still needed? The pool and the gym,” said Abrams, adding that the gym also serves as a multipurpose room.
The Alabama native won’t be leaving the organization completely, opting to stay on as a development consultant.
Also getting a bit of work is the “Mind, Body, and Spirit” mural painted by William Edouard Scott in 1936. Cracks have started to form on the right and left sides of the piece and in spots within it, along with water damage. Though the mural was restored when the building was renovated 23 years ago, time and the elements have impacted it once again, said Donnie Brown, who also serves as a development consultant for The Renaissance Collective.
The Y’s residential side is also undergoing renovations. All 100 units will be updated with new appliances over the next year, a timeline that allows for the work to continue without displacing residents.
Once renovations are complete, the organization will receive a 20-year Section 8 certificate from the Chicago Housing Authority. The total expected cost for the residential work is $5.7 million, said Brown.
Staying true to the mission of the Wabash Y by preserving affordable and low-income housing in Bronzeville — and across the city — is more important now than ever, Brown said. The building where so many Great Migration arrivals sought new lives and new opportunities must continue in its purpose to welcome more new arrivals as they seek refuge hundreds of miles from home, Brown said.
Community support is also key, said Prof. Lionel Kimble, who teaches history and Africana Studies at Chicago State University.
“If we don’t support our close institutions, they die. Outside of fraternities and sororities, we don’t find a lot of organizations making 100-plus years without having some synergy from the folks outside the building. [The Renaissance Collective] works very hard, so I’d like to see people utilize this space, open up the pool, open up the gym,” said Kimble, who recalled being a regular at the Wabash Y gym until it was shuttered.
With the Bronzeville National Heritage Area Act now in full effect, The Renaissance Collective wants to make sure the Wabash Y retains its “living landmark” status for years to come. While visitors are still able to join a guided tour every second Saturday of the month, the building was removed from tour bus routes out of safety for residents, though tour buses still drive by, Abrams said.
“Bringing it back would depend on how much of the space people would want to see. Weekends would be a good time, since most of the programming isn’t going on then. But it would be up to the new executive director to make the decision,” she said.
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