Odessa Fun and Fitness Center to open after months of work, worry

ODESSA — Cheryl Cleveland began with a dream of running her own tae kwon do school.

It took three years, countless hours of volunteer labor and every penny she could borrow, but on Saturday, Cleveland's vision will come to life as something more than just a home for the martial arts.

This weekend she will unveil the Community Fun and Fitness Center, a facility that will host art, science and math tutoring, chess, yoga, dance and language classes as well as the martial arts. The classes will be donation-only, so people will pay what they can.

The center sits next door to the First Baptist Church of Odessa, in a building that once served as the chapel. The building sat empty for more than 20 years, becoming so deteriorated it was on the brink of being condemned. As church leaders pondered what to do with the aging structure, Cleveland came forward, seeking the space for her tae kwon do school.

"They thought I was a blessing," said Cleveland, 31. "They really didn't know what to do with it so I approached them with my idea, and they gave me a 25-year lease in exchange for fixing it up. Needless to say that's a pretty good deal for a 7,000-square-foot building. That's when I got the idea to make it into a place where we could teach all kinds of activities, not just tae kwon do."

But Cleveland didn't realize how difficult it would be to fix up the place. Within weeks she had sunk $20,000 into repairing the roof. She said the contractor she hired failed to do the job right, then took off with the money.

Cleveland and her friends went on to fix the roof themselves — something that became a common theme with the project.

"I've had help from a lot of people in this," Cleveland said. "It was a nightmare in here when we started. The place had rats and water damage everywhere. With the help of some friends I was able to fix the roof with coats of water sealant. I begged my tae kwon do students to help paint, and the list goes on. It's been a long process."

Often the people helping her with the work were learning on the fly. Cleveland's good friend and biggest helper was Nathan Ley. The 33-year-old farmhand spent a good portion of his spare time working on everything from hanging crown moldings to laying the floors.

"I thought the idea she had for this place was kind of crazy at first," Ley said. "Some days this has been a really hard project to be a part of because you wonder what all this work has been building up to."

With applications for grant money being denied repeatedly, Cleveland sank $150,000 of her own money into the center. She took out a home equity loan and maxed out her credit cards. In danger of losing her house, short on money and exhausted from the renovations, Cleveland often considered giving up.

"I was really upset and depressed on numerous occasions over the last few years," Cleveland said. "The roofer takes off with my money and then someone peels off a baseboard and there is a ton of termites. Then the plumbing doesn't work and one thing after another happens. If I hadn't put $80,000 into this project so fast I probably would have quit, but wanting to get my money's worth out of it kept me going."

Her perseverance will pay off with the center's grand opening Saturday. Cleveland anxiously awaits the opportunity to teach her tae kwon do class in her brand new facility. But there is still some work to be done. A children's play area and basketball court behind the facility will be renovated in the coming months.

The rest of the staff at the center is looking forward to having new amenities for people who can't afford costly dance academies and art studios in the area.

"It's great that something like this even exists," art instructor April Childers said this week, as she painted the murals that will decorate the front of the center.

"It's really exciting to see something that anyone can afford to be part of come into the area," Childers continued. "The people here are very open to new ideas, and I think it's going to take off because it's in a good location. It sounds like it's in the middle of nowhere but it's not."

David Rice can be reached at davidrice83@gmail.com.