Nate Davis - Communal Development of the Center (clip)

Nate Davis (ND): A lot of people look at a recreation center as just a location for people to go to do recreation programs. But again, it was used as a daycare center, which was located in the bottom of Hargraves. It was used for recreation programs, for meetings for the community, for special events, family reunions, weddings, wedding receptions, and leisure activity for all ages. It was not just for the young people in the community.

Alexander Stephens (AS): And could you talk a little bit about who built it and sort of why it was so important in this community?

ND: Well, because people in the community got together and said we need this facility. So, you know we had Mr. Louis Graves, who was the editor of the Chapel Hill News, he was involved in it. Mr. Holmes, who there is a recreation center in Durham named after him on Alston Avenue. He was involved in it, and people like Ms. Rebecca Clark, Mr. Willis Barbee and his brother, just a citizen in the Northside/Pine Knolls community. A lot of the rocks came from Mr. Charles Craig’s property on Merritt Mill Road. The community went out and got the rocks and brought the rocks over and they would mainly work on the building after they got off from their regular job during the day. Where the men would come over and work and their wives would bring them dinner while they were working. And so that’s how it started, they were the main ones that started building it.