Abby Hoover
Managing Editor

The Lykins neighborhood celebrated the opening of the Lykins Community Resource Center and Office this week, which will serve as a space for programming, meetings, classes, storage and more for the quickly rising neighborhood.

Wednesday’s and Saturday’s events brought neighbors, nonprofit leaders, city officials and supporters together for food, live music and conversation. The new construction building, designed by Dake Wells Architecture, at 715 Jackson Ave. filled a long vacant lot facing Lykins Square Park.

Walking through the front door, visitors are greeted with a colorful mural on the two-story walls and ceilings of the main room, painted by Emily Alvarez.

“We had an RFP (request for proposals) process for it, and she was selected by a committee from the neighborhood, and this is what she came up with,” said Ricardo Flores, Resource Center Programming Manager. “It’s supposed to symbolize a lot of the aspects that make the Lykins neighborhood what it is.”

The large front room has a kitchen, plenty of natural light, a television screen for meetings, and access to the patio area. The patio and adjoining yard were filled Wednesday evening with neighbors mingling and listening to live music.

“The space not only is going to be for us, the staff, and the programs we have in mind, but also if people want to rent it or use it for whatever event, they can do so,” Flores said.

Down a hallway, visitors then encounter a storage and printer room, which employees of the neighborhood association use to store office supplies, yard signs and more.

There are three offices, one of which can be converted into a meeting room, and a bathroom at the back of the building. The neighborhood association, unlike many of the surrounding communities, has paid employees. When they first started building the office space, they had two, but have since grown to a staff of eight, including an office manager, programming coordinators, legal services and social workers.

The staff and neighborhood board had prioritized eliminating blight, fixing up abandoned houses, and building infill housing, all with the help of community partners and neighbors.

The neighborhood is working on infill housing for vacant lots around the park, and will soon release an RFP. So far, the feedback they have gotten from neighbors is in favor of affordable, and even multi-family, housing. The staff enjoys working from a space that overlooks the park and the vacant lots that will soon be busy with construction.

Behind the building, the neighborhood is working to repair and clean up the alleyway for added accessibility. They added two parking spots and a shed for additional storage.

Now that the project is complete, a little over a year later, the neighborhood staff will be in the office most days from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for neighbors.

David and Yessica Tenorio have lived in Lykins for the past four years with their children, and they’ve seen a lot of changes in that time.

“The houses, they try to remodel and paint and everything, new windows,” David said.

They came to the park often when their son was little, and David said they will likely use it in the future after recent improvements and an increase in safety.

Originally from Chiapas, Mexico, Yessica is now a neighborhood board member. She does construction work and is constantly finding ways to help her neighbors and other people in Lykins. They like the new community center and plan to visit often for neighborhood activities.

Diana Graham, Board President and Community Liaison, likes how versatile the space is. She’s most excited about all the potential the space holds, everything from yoga classes to cooking demonstrations, or just holding space for conversation and whatever the neighborhood needs.

“I love this new space,” Graham said. “It’s welcoming, and Emily did an amazing job. We talked about it several times, we had several meetings with her, and this is the vision she came up with. She executed it very well, we thought.”

Executive Director Gregg Lombardi said the open houses were a foreshadowing of things to come.

“Hopefully, everybody’s back a bunch and there’s a lot more of this,” Lombardi said, gesturing to families eating outside, the live music, and a packed building.

The building will be available for hosting classes, cooking demonstrations, meetings and small special events.