News

In March of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted normal life. Through the generosity of many and the dedication of the Center’s staff, Concord was able to remain fully open to provide childcare and e-learning classes for families in essential business and to ensure all neighbors were able to stay connected and meet their basic needs. As we continue the long recovery from COVID-19, we look forward to exciting changes ahead.

The Neighborhood of Saturdays Project, led by Dr. Susan Hyatt and a group of IUPUI students, brings together Jewish elders and current Southside residents. The project worked to celebrate and share the history of the Southside and the role of the Communal Building/Concord Center

Photo credit: Neighborhood of Saturdays Project collection

The Concord Center moves to Meridian St into a building that had been in construction since June of 1982. Little is known of the exact date the Center moved.

Photo credit: Indiana Collections

Wheels rolling for the new center. After a decade of planning and raising funds, the dream of building a new Concord Center is coming true. “Old School 22, 1231 S. Illinois, is being demolished to make way for the center.” The new building will include a library, gymnasium, counseling offices, senior citizen lunch and meeting areas, youth program space, and kitchen, and a space for neighborhood meetings. “The community is aware and anxiously awaiting the new facility.”

Photo credit: Gary Clark 1982

Enoch Mitchell retires after 47 years as a custodian of the Concord Center. The column writes,
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“He stayed through cold blustery winter nights when the furnace had to be fired to keep the water pipes from freezing. He stayed when fires were set by vandals. He stayed when much stress and strain of a busy and active community center was piled on his already busy work load… Many people who have come to the building on West Morris have found a friend in Enoch, and in turn they have become his friend.”

Photo credit: Gladys Potenza 1975

Over 100 Concord Center area residents protest the plans for I-70. “Protester charged that the design bisected and isolated their neighborhood.”

Signs read, “Don’t Fence Us In,” “The Old Folks Want to Walk Through the Neighborhood,” and “I Want to Go to Grandpas”

In April, The Concord Center opens an “Outreach Office” at 732 S. West for residents that have become isolated as a result of the I-70 overpass.

Photo credit: Neighborhood of Saturdays collection

The Community Center celebrates its 50th anniversary, now under the management of the Concord Neighborhood Center. The new director writes, “although the Center’s surroundings and problems are far different from what they were in 1914, the challenge to serve the community today is as great as it was 50 years ago.”

Photo credit: Bob Doeppers 1962

After leasing the building for $1 a year for a decade, the Concord Center Association purchased the Communal Building from the Jewish Federation and the building becomes the Concord Center.

The Concord Center continues to be used by the Southside Jewish community with an estimated 10% of those using the center being Jewish.

“The Center is a non-sectarian, interracial social group work agency serving all in the neighborhood through a program of recreation and informal education.”

Photo credit: Gary Moore 1980

After 20 years of operation under the Jewish Community Center Association, the Communal Building begins being leased by a separate agency, what will become the Concord Center Association.

Photo credit: Neighborhood of Saturdays Project collection

On September 15, the Jewish Federation votes to make a $25,000 addition to the Communal Building as the building is deemed “too small for Jewish Federation activities.”

November 6, the Communal Building is damaged due to a fire of incendiary origin. The damages are estimated to be around $3,000 (over $70,000 today).

Photo credit: Clipping taken from Newspapers.com