Residents of Ward 7 are hoping that when the new Deanwood Community Center opens it will create jobs and combat crime.
At the corner of 29th and Quarles streets in northeast D.C., construction workers lay gravel on the ground. You can see the steel skeleton of the facility exposed and mounds of dirt piled high.
Beverly Good is a longtime resident in the area and keeps tabs on the Deanwood project's progress.
"We make it a point to come by everyday to make sure someone is working here," she says. "We can't sleep unless we see someone down here moving!"
The facility will cost $33 million and Good says in uncertain economic times, she wants to make sure construction continues. She says this will give children in the area something to do after school.
"We always used to call ourselves the plantation. This was the country of Washington, D.C. There is nothing. Absolutely nothing. But we have great ideas for this!"
The center will be the largest of it's kind in the District. The 63,000 square-foot facility will house a library, swimming pool and gym, as well as several multipurpose rooms.
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Yvonne Johnson says she's hoping there will be programs for seniors.
"It's well overdue. People have been here for years and years and paid taxes on top of taxes," she says. "We'd like to see a day program so people can go to work and have peace of mind knowing their loved ones are taken care of and can be protected."
The Deanwood Community Center is scheduled to open in June this year.
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