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The future of the Southeast Yakima Community Center will be the focus of a youth rally Friday hosted by the local NAACP youth council.

Two local committees have recommended that the center be torn down to make way for the Gates Foundation's Ready by Five child-care facility. And though city officials say no decisions will be made until after a public hearing June 3, James Parks, president of the local NAACP, is convinced it's a done deal.

He's encouraging city youth to show their support for keeping the center -- and its programs -- intact.

Built in 1971, the community center has served as a gathering place for the southeast Yakima community, a predominantly Latino neighborhood. The center offers social services, such as foster-care retention, senior lunches and workshops, after-school activities and a free Christmas dinner that serves about 2,000 low-income people annually. The NAACP is also based there.

The center reported serving more than 7,000 people in each of the first four months of 2008. That includes about 2,000 youth who show up each month for Friday night dances.

"No one else in Yakima will host this crowd," Parks said of people in need. "Where will they go? What will they do?"

Supporters of Ready by Five are asking the city to allow them to construct a new building that would primarily serve as a hub and statewide model for early childhood education. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has selected east Yakima for a 10-year, $30-million initiative. The project area spans 5.5 square miles and includes about 3,700 children 5 and younger.

Officials with Ready by Five have vowed to retain many of the existing programs at the Southeast Yakima Community Center. Others would likely be relocated.

The city of Yakima owns the 3.7-acre property and has a $75,000 annual contract with the OIC of Washington to run the center. Additionally, in the last two years the city has spent more than $284,000 on capital improvements, including a new parking lot, new roof and new exterior paint.

"When that investment began, the city didn't know about the opportunities through Ready by Five," said city spokesman Randy Beehler. "We had a building and a responsibility to maintain that building, and that's what we did."

Despite the city's investment, Beehler said there is more work to be done. And the city doesn't have the money readily available to make further improvements.

"The source of that kind of funding is a question mark," Beehler said.

Some of the needed improvements include upgrading the gym and installing a new ceiling and lighting, according to a 2006 study by Wardell Architects.

Earlier this month, the Gates Foundation announced it would set aside $500,000 to design and plan for a new early learning center that would serve 184 children annually.

Among the community leaders who have endorsed the Ready by 5 proposal are Henry Beachamp, the center's founder and current executive director of OIC; and Ester Huey, the center's current manager. She is on the executive board of Ready by Five.

Parks argues that the Southeast Yakima Community Center is an important part of the identity of the neighborhood and worries that another asset will be taken away from southeast Yakima. As an example, he pointed to the former senior center on North Fourth Street, which is now used by the Police Athletic League. The city re-established the senior center, the Harman Center, on the west side of town.

Friday's rally will offer members of the community one of two opportunities to weigh in on where the new facility should be built, Parks said.

"It's all about letting the people have their speak," he said.

* James Joyce III can be reached at 577-7675 or jjoyce@yakimaherald.com.