Named after abolitionist preacher Rev. Alexander Crummell, Crummell school is located in Ivy City one of DC’s historic black communities. With its closing in 1977 , the community lost an important gathering space. The panel will trace resident-led efforts to reclaim an integral community space in the face of efforts that would have situated a bus depot in the middle of a residential neighborhood, the rejection of a community proposal of a community center, one acre park, affordable housing and health care services for the development of high-cost housing, and the commitment, and ultimate approval of the transformation of the site into a new community center.