User:Ɱ/Tray Lee Center

The Tray Lee Center is a community center in the American Addition, an African American-settled neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio.

History
The building holding the Tray Lee Center was built in 1949 as a volunteer firehouse to aid in fire protection to the surrounding community. The area, known as the American Addition, was settled around 1898 in Clinton Township. The settlement had few utilities and limited infrastructure in its first few decades. Its residents relied on well water, which caused adverse health effects, as the wells were located close to outhouses. In 1930 all wells in the addition were condemned by the Columbus Health Department, and the community attempted to rely on rain water, and then on cisterns provided from Columbus Water Works. The community received its first water line in 1932 after several petitions, allowing for a sanitary water supply and fire protection.

For a period until 1949, the community and the surrounding township received fire protection through a contract with the Columbus Fire Department. The contract was expensive, leading the township's board to approve purchasing pumps from nearby fire departments and organizing a volunteer department. Sixteen young men volunteered, were trained in first aid, and became qualified; women volunteered as auxiliaries. In 1949 the community built the firehouse, and raised money to purchase a fire truck, which they also used as an ambulance when needed. In the same year, as police duties were recognized, a levy was passed to pay the township's police and fire departments.

In 1955, the community's Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church was destroyed in a fire, leading the congregation to continue worship in the firehouse for two years and four months, while it built a new church building. The firehouse also served some community gathering needs, including holding dances twice a month. Columbus did not provide recreation centers for its Black youth at the time, and so its community used an old barn until the firehouse was built.

In 1959, the American Addition was annexed into Columbus, providing city services and utilities including more affordable fire service.

In 1957 the community center was the dream of two Methodist ministers – Edward Traylor and Lee Moorehead – to meet the needs of the residents living in the American Addition. The ministers hoped to provide community organization, group work, family services, and preschool. The preschool opened in 1961, and fundraising for refurbishments began in 1968. In that year, members of the American Institute of Interior Designers offered to refurbish the building, and used $15,000 in local gifts and grants to refurbish the interior and exterior of the structure.