JCC gets NBA $$

INDIANAPOLIS — It’s been nearly three years since Jay Community Center’s last major construction project.

Another one is coming soon.

JCC, more specifically the Jay County Boys Club, was among 21 recipients to receive a All-Star Legacy Grant from the NBA All-Star 2021 Host Committee, announced Thursday at Concord Neighborhood Center.

“Basically what we’re going to do is it gives us the opportunity to repurpose old bathrooms into … functional space that we can use for programming, rentals and different things like that,” said JCC executive director Kyle Cook. “Without this funding the projects would not have been a major priority.

“It allows us to take on that big of a project we wouldn’t have looked at unless we had the funding.”

In connection with the 2021 NBA All-Star game in Indianapolis, the All-Star Legacy Grant is a $1 million initiative that focuses on nonprofit organizations serving youth in the state. The grant awards up to $50,000 for projects focusing on health and wellness or education.

Jay Community Center, which was one of 182 applicants, will receive the full $50,000 for its project.

“We had an overwhelmingly positive response statewide to the grant applications,” said Rick Fuson, founding chairman, All-Star Board of Directors and president and chief operating officer of Pacers Sports & Entertainment said in a release. “Narrowing the list to 21 grant recipients involved considerable review and discussion led by our Legacy Committee.

They had to make tough choices amongst a pool of incredibly strong and impactful grant requests.”

Cook said the construction project — the center’s first since it opened the senior center in March 2017 — will turn the two interior restrooms without locker rooms and the adjacent hallway into one big room approximately 1,000 square feet. A closet toward the back of the new room will be made to house the concession inventory.

According to the Legacy Project’s website, criteria for the grant included:

•Grants must be used for capital brick-and-mortar projects.

•Projects will support “We Grow Basketball Here” and “We Grow Community Here” brands.

•Projects must demonstrate sustainability beyond the NBA All-Star 2021 game, which is slated for Feb. 14.

•Construction must begin in 2020.

Cook said he will be meeting with architects in the coming weeks to get the project rolling, and he said if everything goes smoothly the project will be completed in August.

With extra space, Cook said Jay County Boys Club can expand its programming to area youth by giving a quieter space for its after school activities and summer day camps.

It will also allow JCC to offer more Boomer sports, as well as give it the potential to implement basic dance and tumbling classes while not interfering with other local businesses.

“We’re excited to get it,” he said.

Among the other 20 recipients of the All-Star Legacy Grant were two locations whose employees have ties to Jay County.

Stephanie (Arnold) Amick, former director of development at JCC, received the grant as executive director of Agape Therapeutic Riding Resources.

The other connection is Boys & Girls Club of Noblesville. The club’s director of development is 2007 Jay County High School graduate and Redkey native Nathan Helm, who held the same position at JCC from August 2013 to July 2016.