DECATUR, Ala. (WHNT) — Sara Montez Bradley fondly remembers the efforts of her mother Carrie Matthews as a champion of civil rights while trying to integrate black children into Decatur schools during the civil rights era of the 1960s.
“My mother attended the University of Alabama and took courses so that she and the other people of Decatur could start a licensed daycare center for little children of color,” Bradley recalled. “It was the first licensed daycare center for children of color in the state of Alabama.”
In 1969, two years after her passing, Decatur officials opened The Carrie Matthews Recreation Center in her honor.
However, due to foundation issues, the future of the center remains uncertain. The center closed in 2019, and since then, city officials have struggled with how to save it.
Bradley said that the center stands as more than just an honor for her mother.
“People had all types of receptions and wedding receptions there,” said Bradley.
The city council told Bradley that the idea is to try and bring the community staple up to operating standards. The city hired engineers to perform a study on the damage, but Bradley and the people of Northwest Decatur have been waiting for years for an answer.
Bradley said that the city should construct a brand-new center for the residents of the community in honor of her mother and her fight for equal rights.
“Oftentimes our history of the people that we remember gets lost in history,” said Bradley. I am very hopeful, and I really think that the city of Decatur should make sure that they renovate and upgrade the Carrie Matthews Center.”
The next step for the city council is to get the proposal for the foundation study into the budget.
“It’s just a really critical piece for the community there in northwest, and we need to try and restore it if we can,” said City Council President Jacob Ladner.
The Carrie Matthews Recreational Center once offered various sports activities, a venue for community meetings and as an educational facility with learning opportunities for residents of all ages.
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