Boxing program knocked out by city, which is using 20th Street Recreation Center for migrant intake.
— which considers the nearly eighty-year-old program a “niche” program — this youth-oriented boxing tradition located inside the 20th Street Recreation Center nearly folded completely because of the pandemic, then fought its way back last year.
“I get it: We needed to find migrants a place to live, and that’s important, those are human beings,” Baca says. “But what about our homeless, who still wander the streets and haven’t been able to be ‘processed’ and housed, or our kids, who need a place to go where they feel safe and welcome?” shutting down 20th Street — along with two other rec centers, Rude and Central Park — was a hard but necessary decision.
“Over the years, I’ve seen how much it helps these kids to have this, and it really was made easier for them because they were able to get here by bus or by walking,” he says. “Now they’re asking me, ‘Coach, when are we going back?’ And honestly, I don’t know what to tell them.” The biggest problem with using other gyms, though, is that they are much more difficult for students to reach. “Now their parents have to drive them, and you’re talking about people who already have to work more than one job and just don’t have a lot of extra time,” Baca says. “The 20th Street location is central, but if you have to go clear out to Aurora or down to south Denver, you’re talking about time and gas, and sometimes our people just don’t have either of those.
Although Baca’s 20th Street Gym Boxing program initially got to use the rec center space for free when it started there in 2004, it's had to pay for the past several years. Because of that, Baca now has to charge the students $50 a month, which he feels shows their serious commitment to being there. “These are not rich kids going to a fancy fitness club in the suburbs,” Baca says.
However, the city did not offer Baca's program any alternatives, and still hasn't — much less given Baca a date when he can return.
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