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September 3, 2021
The Opportunity Center, an urban sports complex to promote community ties and wellness, has been proposed for construction on the north side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the US. The 300,000 square foot facility, with an estimated cost of $80 million, will make sports and wellness activities accessible to all people in the community, regardless of race, gender, age, experience or disability.
The center aims to provide athletic programming, with a focus on overcoming Milwaukee’s history of “racial, economic and ability-based divides.” Milwaukee has the distinction of being the most racially segregated metro area in the United States, with a long history of racial inequality and opression. According to the ACLU of Wisconsin, “for decades, African Americans in Milwaukee have dealt with devastating rates of poverty – a staggering 33.4% Black poverty rate which is nearly five times higher than that of whites in the city, intense segregation in housing and education, a criminal justice system that arrests, incarcerates, and devours communities of color at vastly disproportionate rates, as well as a myriad of other hardships rooted in our history of racism.”
The center’s financing is to include a $2.5 million loan from Milwaukee Economic Development Corp., a non-profit business lender, for the land purchase. Billed as “America’s only urban sports center serving our community for greater inclusion, stronger education and true integration through systems change,” the project has a goal to open by 2025.
The Opportunity Center is also estimated to bring in one million visits annually and $15 million of economic impact for the county, project leaders say. This economic boost and programming would also go a long way to helping to bridge divides in Milwaukee.
“Through this mission, the center aims to create greater inclusion, stronger educational achievement and true integration through systems change at the intersection of some of our community’s most diverse neighborhoods,” according to a statement.
The project is led by Danian Buchman, founder of The Ability Center, a Milwaukee-based non-profit focused on improving quality of life for people affected by disabilities, and Franklin Cumberbatch, Bader Philanthropies vice president.
Buchman, in a statement, said he and Cumberbatch “have both experienced the transformational impact that belonging to an athletic community can have on a child’s trajectory in life.”
“We see a tremendous opportunity to replicate this experience for thousands of young people in our community that are facing tough odds, and we know it can inspire them to greatness too.” Buchman said.
The center’s supporters include IndependenceFirst, a non-profit group that helps people with disabilities live independently, and Milwaukee Youth Sports Alliance, which works to provide kids access to youth sports programs.
A group of project backers, led by motivational speaker David Cooks, hopes to raise $9 million by the end of 2021 to advance the project. The center will also feature an urban wellness institute that promotes health and wellness education.
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