The 24 acres of once-contaminated land at 30th and Muhammad Ali Boulevard is going to be dug up, replenished and transformed.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – A study shows students who run track have higher grades and the highest likelihood of attending college. The Norton Sports Health Athletics and Learning Complex is being built to get the whole community on course.
The 24 acres of once-contaminated land at 30th and Muhammad Ali Boulevard is going to be dug up, replenished and transformed. Not just to improve the lives of athletes, but all JCPS students and communities in the West End.
The rock to start the ripple for growth is being thrown in the form of an athletic and learning facility. Growth that Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio says is needed to right some wrongs done to families in the district.
He said the third floor at the Academy of Shawnee has been condemned for more than 20 years but it will be fixed this spring.
At Manual High School, track senior Michael Morgan says track has taken him places he’s never imagined, but with the right equipment for success all students could have gone further.
“The sport of track and field in general has been under invested in a lot of times for our kids,” Morgan said. “So when the weather is bad or something has happened, we’ve been stuck running upstairs or hallways getting in the way of actual learning in here, when at the same time we could have had a better opportunity if the resources were available.”
“Why aren’t the corporations knocking down the door to help?” said Louisville Urban League CEO and President Sadiqa Reynolds.
The love was felt in the room when Manual’s class of 1976 pledged more than $10,000 for the project. But Reynolds said those with the means have not matched it.
She said if you take away Norton Health’s $5 million contribution, the facility was funded by alumni, parents and foundations.
Reynolds also made it clear Louisville corporations have said they want to see growth in the West End but haven’t put their money where their mouth is. She vows the project will move forward.
The facility is expected to be completed by December.
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Source: New athletic complex coming to West End funded with help from Manual graduates
