A Community Center on the North Side has reopened with a new look.
The Clarendon Park Community Center at 4501 N. Clarendon Ave. in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood reopened this week after undergoing $16 million in renovations which took nearly three years.
Michael Brown, the Park Supervisor at Clarendon, told WBBM the Chicago Park District facility, which first opened 1916, has a fresh look, while maintaining its vintage roots.
"That's what makes Clarendon special. They kept a lot of the old, a lot of the brick, and as you go from room to room you will see the old and the new...it just works well together."
Clarendon, which was once on Preservation Chicago's "Endangered List" has a dance studio, gymnasium, soccer fields, playgrounds, a community garden and, hopefully a better, outlet for kids.
Robert Matticx coaches baseball at Clarendon Park and said it brings "a whole new horizon, a whole new field to the park. And I'm hoping that it brings new people, a lot more different ethnic groups of people, just have a great time and a great adventure."
Clarendon is also known for its Model Railroad Club train room, which has been around for decades, and is still there.
Bonnie Caproon lives nearby. She and her family were having lunch outside the Center and looked around and simply said, "it's wonderful for the community."