Frederick Douglass Center serves as the heart of Toledo community
It was the site of Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz’s 2023 State of the City address — and is now undergoing a multi-room renovation. Here’s an inside look at the work happening to Toledo’s Frederick Douglass Center!
TOLEDO, Ohio — A newly-painted gym and lobby, redone floor, and new elevator are just a small part of what’s to come at the neighborhood community center, which was built back in 1976.
Reggie Williams is the executive director of the Frederick Douglass Community Association. He says the center offers recreational activities and informational sessions, as well as camps during the summer.
All of these services, he says, benefited from a recent renovation, thanks to help from Dr. Cecelia Adams, a former Toledo City Council member. At the time, the City of Toledo was considering an energy cost savings partnership with Leopardo Energy, which would have included multiple city-owned buildings — including “The Doug.” When that fell through, Adams helped to get the Frederick Douglass Center some funding of its own.
“At that time, it was for $1 million. And so, unanimously later on, the rest of council voted toward an additional amendment to do $1.5 million — so a total of $2.5 million to renovate The Frederick Douglass Center,” Williams explained.
And while these renovations have brought new life to the center, Williams says they’re far from done. Giving me a tour of some of their lesser-viewed spaces, he provided a vision for the future.
This first room on the first floor, he says, will soon be home to a library full of Black literature to inspire some of the many youth that engage in their programming.
Next door to that room, a space that’s used for performing arts — and at one point — was used for classes to teach our city’s young people framing and drywall.
Continuing our tour of the first floor, Williams walked me through the space that will open as a daycare this year, which he hopes can be 24/7. His plans include new glass to welcome in the summer sun, as well as new flooring.
After that, we took a trip to the second floor, home of that newly-renovated gym, which now includes a workout room fitted with donated equipment. Other highlights of the building’s upper floors include classrooms for GED classes, which will soon get new flooring; a space for the neighborhood’s young people to enjoy a good time in a safe, welcoming space; meeting rooms and offices for members of the community; and even a playroom — also fitted with new flooring.
Williams says these are all spaces that help to continue their mission, something he one day hopes to leave in the hands of the next generation of Toledoans.
“The long term benefits are there’s a succession plan; being able to hand it off in good nature, good sound structure to the next administration, our young people that are growing up that will be adults in that changing of the guard, if you will. And so I’m just excited to just be able to stand on the shoulders of those who previously were leaders here,” Williams said.
And as this work continues, Williams does say he would like to see more funding come down from the city, as during these renovations, other issues arose that will need addressing. In the meantime, he’s looking forward to welcoming community members to the center’s Juneteenth celebration this summer.
