The facility in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, is re-envisioning its focus with the help of Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects.
For nearly a century, the building that houses the Ralph J. Bunche Community Center has stood as a pillar in the Mill Swamp community of Anne Arundel County, Maryland. It began as a two-room elementary school for black children in 1928 and was expanded in 1950.
After public school desegregation, the building was transformed into a community center. For decades, it has housed a food pantry, museum, and kitchen. It has hosted weddings, baby showers, and community events.
Connecting a community
Well-loved through time, the building has begun to show its age. In the fall of 2022, Anne Arundel County and the Mill Swamp community reached out to Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects to conduct a renovation feasibility study.
“They thought they wanted to get this off the ground rather quickly but realized there were a lot of different contingencies that need to be considered,” says Interior Designer Lisa Clemens, a Murphy & Dittenhafer Associate Principal and the project manager for the feasibility study.
One of the first steps in the study is a listening phase, which includes all involved parties. Because the building serves a broad array of functions, Clemens needed to understand the center’s priorities and determine how to create adequate space for diverse activities in the two-winged structure of approximately 5,000 square feet.
M&D personnel were invited to a community celebration to get to know the involved parties and experience the history of the former school. They visited a local renovated house museum that shares history with the community center. Several constituents from the center met M&D representatives at the recently renovated Harriet Tubman School project in Howard County – designed by Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects, which mirrors many characteristics of the Bunche Center project.
Museum meets commercial kitchen
While still in the listening phase to determine priorities for the center, Clemens has a clear vision for some of its needs.
The first priority is to construct a museum space inside the main entrance. The center is named for Ralph J. Bunche, an African American diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who played a key role in negotiating the 1949 armistice agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbors after the 1948 Middle East war. The center was founded as a tribute to his legacy and to provide essential services and opportunities to underserved members of the community.
A second priority is for the building to retain space for public gatherings such as programs offered by the County as well as private rental events. That need means the kitchen must be upgraded to a certified commercial kitchen. Rental of the kitchen helps fund the center.
“The building has the original kitchen in it with a cafeteria window,” says Clemens. “There are wonderful historical pieces that we’ll try to preserve, but getting that kitchen back to where it meets code and all users can use it is a priority.”
A third priority is to provide a location for community health services such as those offered by the County Department of Aging and Disability Services, nutrition counseling, and a food pantry, which serves over 200 families. The renovated building would need to be able to enhance those services.
A welcoming, inclusive space
Structurally, the entire building needs system upgrades, including mechanical, plumbing, electrical, and HVAC.
“The community has done a fabulous job of maintaining the building,” says Clemens, “but when it’s an older building, a lot of expense goes into not only maintaining but also keeping it up to code.”
The center is surrounded by beautiful open green space and grounds dotted with trees that M&D hopes to integrate with the facility utilization.
M&D plans to wrap up the feasibility study in spring 2023. It will include prescribing the desired upgrades and initial preliminary drawings, with enough information to determine a cost estimate. From there, the Center will be able to decide which elements are priorities and attempt to secure funding for implementing the construction work.
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“Everybody is poised and excited and ready to be talking about their project,” says Clemens. “The challenge will be how to get all of those priorities and needs in that space.”
The Ralph J. Bunche Community Center is an important resource for the Anne Arundel County community, providing a welcoming and inclusive space where individuals can access the resources they need to thrive.
“I think it will have an enormous impact on the community,” Clemens says. “From the standpoint of really taking a building and a history and the stories behind it and making it real for today and having it live on for generations in the future, it’s just so important.”
Seitzland Village represents historic pride and a dedication to community.