East 156 Street at Morris Avenue.

In the years following the hardships of the Great Depression of the 1930s and the shortages of World War II, there was great support for erecting decent and affordable housing for the deserving poor. The New York City Housing Authority followed the accepted architectural concepts of the day by erecting high-rise apartment houses on superblocks. These towers in the park set amid grass and trees with winding sidewalks flanked by park benches were each supplemented by a community center designed to be a meeting place and a space for classes and athletic activity not only for residents of the houses, but for those living in the surrounding neighborhoods as well. To save money, the houses were generally made out of red brick, boxy in shape and bearing little or no decoration. Visually, the conglomeration was banal at best.

 

By the end of the twentieth century, the Housing Authority took a bold leap with the creation of the Melrose Community Center. This building on a 1.78-acre promontory near the Melrose and Jackson Houses is formally called the South Bronx Classic Community Center at Melrose Houses. The building tries to replace the old fortress-type housing project setting with one that is open and accessible.

 

The community center is made up of two wings with one glass-sided entry to serve both of them. The western wing houses a gymnasium. Curved and generally oval in form, it is a steel frame structure with exterior walls clad in aluminum panels usually used for roofing and with concrete block at its base. Inside, the trusses are left exposed. The eastern wing housing the classrooms is in the shape of a bar made of steel frame and concrete block. A glass and aluminum curtain wall runs along the length of the bar exposing the interior activities to public view. In addition, a glass wall separates each room from the interior public corridor so that all passing by can witness the activities going on inside. The architectural contrast with the nearby public housing cannot be starker.

 

The Melrose Community Center was designed primarily for teenagers. A variety of sports, music, and dance activities and arts and crafts, photography and computer workshops can engage an average of 250 people each day.

 

Lloyd Ultan