City Council Subcommittee to Probe Rec Center Plans

Department of Recreation and Parks officials are scheduled to discuss city plans to privatize operations at many of its recreation centers before a Baltimore City Council subcommittee Wednesday afternoon.

The Recreation and Parks Subcommittee is expected to question officials about city plans regarding the future of recreation centers that private organizations did not bid to operate. The hearing is scheduled for 5 p.m. at City Hall.

In September, Baltimore to run many of its recreation centers because of budget constraints. But in October, when proposals to partner with the city were submitted, many of the recreation centers did not receive bids from private organizations. Those centers, such as DeWees Recreation Center in mid-Govans, are in danger of being shut down.

In some cases, such as at Hampden’s Roosevelt Recreation Center, residents were by a private organization to run the center. Members of the Roosevelt Recreation Council, a volunteer group that raises money and organizes events at the center, plan to attend the hearing to voice their displeasure.

Councilman Bill Henry, D-District 4, that created the hearing. He said that he would prefer options, such as rotating temporary closures, rather than permanently closing centers.

"I'd like a commitment that we're not going to close rec centers when we can't find partners [to operate them]," Henry said last month.

The plan was included in the current fiscal year's budget that the City Council voted to approve. 

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