Sunday, June 28, 2009

Haskell Community Center, R.I.P.

Even the trees seem to have checked out.

The old baseball field on the north side of Haskell is apparently reverting to wetlands.

Pool to the right, gym to the left.



14 comments:

  1. Spent a lot of time in that pool in the 60s and 70s. So sad.

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  2. Spent a lot of time in that pool in the 50s. I knew everyone; everyone knew me (and my parents).

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  3. My first class picnic was there in 1959. Only went in the pool once.

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  4. Spent a lot of time in that pool in the 70s. I remember swimming its length to demonstrate my eligibility for the deep end (they always made me tread water at the end, and I couldn't). I can hear "Rock the Boat" playing on the sound system.

    =SO= sad... It's like when I stumbled across a photo of a 'dead mall' last month... and realized I was looking at a vacant store that I used to manage.

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  5. Okay, this is a little gross, but I remember playing basketball on the outdoor court, which is long gone, and then going in and swimming — after a cursory shower — in my basketball shorts, then walking home in my wet shorts/swim trunks.

    There also used to be a network of trails in the woods near Haskell where we'd ride bikes. They all appeared to be overgrown.

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  6. I have many fond memories of Haskell and Basset Park. We rode our bikes over there one-handed with our suits rolled up perfectly in a towel. Then there were those dented wire baskets we stored our clothes in with the number on a tag we pinned to our trunks. Sometimes after swimming we would get a bottle of pop and watch my friend's older brother set pins in the bowling alley downstairs.

    I took pride in my abilty to navigate that maze of trails through the woods. That was some hardcore helmetless bike riding over and around the exposed tree roots (no trial bikes then - only classic curb hoppers).

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  7. Awww...this is a bummer but not unexpected...My late grandmother would lived nearby on Mt. Elliott would take us to Haskell for picnics outside and swimming inside at the pool.What memories....all great! her old street is a craphole now...
    The author Brian Scheska used to live in a house facing this park.

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  8. I remember bowling...I had a ball.

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  9. On my last visit to Bassett Park, I noticed how haunting the trees looked.

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  10. Haskell was open as recently as a couple of years ago. Fights and lack of funds caused it to close again.

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  11. An integral part of my childhood, from all the families who lived on its borders, from learning to play tennis on the Dayton Street courts, playing little league, skating at the ice rink, buying Christmas trees from the Brownell Street side, to playing 100s of hours of frisbee golf in the woods with the Hoyts, McKenzies, Suomelas, Parmers, and anyone else who had their 165gm disk. Haskell's demise is sad, indeed.

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  12. HELLO:

    1960s - 1970s I grew up on the edge of Bassett Park - Brownell boulevard fully utilizing the baseball diamonds, the tennis courts, the ice rink during winters, and Haskell's for basketball, floor hockey, swimming...during Summers two of the ball diamonds were occupied 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM with baseball leagues and then early evenings with softball leagues...The Park was key for my childhood...

    Richard

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  13. My best friend Don Feinstein & I in the early 50s
    would swim at the pool until we were nothing but wrinkles. I lived on the corner of Patterson & Mt. Elliot, Don lived a few block away from me.
    I was a pin setter in the bowling alley on year for 10 cents a line. In the winter we would ice scate nearly ever night at Ballanger Pk.
    I haved not been to Flint since 1991 but Don goes back now & then, his stories about our old neighborhood are very grim..........

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  14. As a member of the Boy Scouts in Fenton back in the 60's, we would travel to Haskell Field House and swim about once a month. these were truly good times, and great memories.
    John Nierescher

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Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.