Originally called Center School, this outstanding example of streamlined
Art Deco architecture was completed in the autumn of 1937, just as the
first residents of Greenbelt moved in. Greenbelt is a planned community
that was designed and built by the federal government as part of FDRs New
Deal. Built to put people to work, to provide affordable housing for low
income familes, and be a model of modern town planning in the United
States, the community thrived and Center School was used by residents for
meetings, adult education classes, recreation, clubs and sports teams, a
town hall, a library, and church services. A new wing was added in 1967,
then, following the school’s closure in 1993, it was renovated and reopened
in 1996 as a dedicated Community Center. The building now houses classes of
all kinds, meeting space, services for seniors, a nursery school, artist’s
studios, the Greenbelt Museum’s exhibit room and office, the Greenbelt News
Review’s office, Greenbelt’s public access television studio, summer camps,
and an auditorium/gymnasium. The building features curved aerodynamic
struts along front facade and bas relief sculpted panels depicting the
Preamble to the Constitution carved by Lenore Thomas, a New Deal WPA artist.
