Wisconsin State Journal
Alexis London
New Bayview community center takes novel ...

The community center at the heart of the Bayview affordable housing redevelopment on “the Triangle” Downtown has opened its doors to the public.

Bright and airy, with big windows and a beachy blue-and-tan color scheme, the $9 million, 11,500-square-foot center was created by and for the people who live there as part of the second phase of the Bayview Foundation’s $60 million affordable housing redevelopment. The foundation is now turning to the third and final phase of the project, which will add a playground, more green space and the last 44 of the development’s 130 total housing units. The expansion is aimed at low-income families who do not currently live at Bayview and is scheduled for completion in February.

Isthmus

Portrait of a neighborhood

Portrait of a neighborhood

Angie Powell was raised by adoptive parents on Madison’s west side. As an adult, she lived on Williamson Street. But no place has felt quite like Bayview Townhouses, where she moved with her son in 2010.

“The west side is not culturally diverse like Bayview or the east side. I was one of the few African Americans living there. I was really happy at 18 to get out of the neighborhood. I still feel like I don’t belong there when I visit my parents,” Powell relates in a new book about Bayview, which broke ground in August on a $50 million redevelopment.