By Cory V. McCray
The Mack Lewis Fitness center stands as a pillar of historical past and grit in East Baltimore, an emblem of power and transformation. Getting into one of many oldest Black boxing gyms on the East Coast, you’re surrounded by tales of triumph and perseverance. At its coronary heart is a big boxing ring, a stage for numerous matches which have formed younger lives and fostered hope. Throughout the partitions hold newspaper articles honoring prizefighters who as soon as educated right here—together with legends like Vincent Pettway, Hasim Rahman and Larry Middleton. These articles are highly effective reminders of the fitness center’s storied historical past and profound influence.
The fitness center’s journey started in 1951, when Mack Lewis first opened its doorways on Broadway and Keen Road. His imaginative and prescient was easy however profound: to create a protected haven for younger individuals in East Baltimore, providing them self-discipline, function and a path ahead by way of the game of boxing. That imaginative and prescient stays alive at this time, carried ahead by Gregory Wilkes and Coach Warren Boardley, whose ardour and dedication hold the fitness center thriving.
As a proud graduate of Fairmount Harford Institute, I do know firsthand how necessary areas like Mack Lewis Fitness center are for younger individuals. A lot of my friends discovered refuge there, drawn by the organized, regulated and sanctioned boxing matches and the sense of function the fitness center offered. It wasn’t only a fitness center; it was a neighborhood hub the place desires had been nurtured and futures reimagined.
I first met Wilkes and Boardley in 2019. Their imaginative and prescient for revitalizing the fitness center was rooted in honoring its historical past whereas constructing its future. In January 2022, I hosted a fundraiser on the fitness center—an occasion designed to offer assets to the group for utilizing their facility and to lift consciousness amongst these unfamiliar with the fitness center’s historical past and significance. Throughout that occasion, my pal Ray Jackson visited the fitness center for the primary time. Moved by what he noticed, Ray made a beneficiant financial donation and leveraged his community capital, demonstrating the facility of believing in a shared imaginative and prescient. His act of generosity motivated me to suppose critically about how we may construct capability for the group.
Later that yr, we facilitated a $200,000 capital bond initiative to improve the fitness center. Partnering with Jenny Hope at HEBCAC (Historic East Baltimore Neighborhood Motion Coalition) as a fiscal sponsor, we applied important renovations: new lighting, restroom upgrades, flooring alternative, ceiling tile repairs, and the creation of a pc lab for college kids. These enhancements revitalized the fitness center, making certain it may proceed to function a protected and provoking area for the neighborhood.
]]>
Past its bodily transformation, the fitness center stays a cornerstone of East Baltimore. It serves as a hub for organized boxing, educational enrichment, and important neighborhood companies. In the course of the pandemic, the fitness center partnered with the Maryland Meals Financial institution to distribute groceries weekly, offering a lifeline for tons of of households. It additionally hosts vacation giveaways, well being screenings, and free authorized steering whereas empowering younger students with instruments for fulfillment by way of its laptop lab. The fitness center prioritizes teachers over athletics, a technique that’s paying off. One younger boxer who began coaching at six not too long ago graduated with honors and is ready to attend faculty in London.
In 2023, the fitness center confronted a brand new problem when the brand new proprietor of the Church Sq. Buying Middle elevated the hire. Whereas the rise was important in comparison with the decreased charge offered by the earlier proprietor, it mirrored the true worth of the area. We facilitated negotiations and secured funding to cowl the hire for the subsequent 10 years, permitting the fitness center to concentrate on its mission with out the burden of unsustainable overhead prices.
The Mack Lewis Fitness center embodies the grit and dedication of East Baltimore. It stands as a testomony to what might be achieved when communities, leaders, and establishments work collectively to protect and uplift areas that matter most. The legacy of Mr. Mack Lewis, who devoted his life to creating alternatives for younger individuals, lives on in each match held within the ring and each life modified inside its partitions.
This fitness center is greater than a constructing; it’s a narrative of grit, transformation, and the facility of collective motion. I invite everybody to assist areas just like the Mack Lewis Basis Boxing Fitness center and Neighborhood Middle, which proceed to show that with imaginative and prescient, collaboration, and dedication, progress isn’t solely potential however inevitable.
]]>
