Since 1933, the St. Columbanus School athletic center near 71st Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive has been a place for fun and athletics. In recent years it has become a safe place for children and youth to come to spend time off the dangerous neighborhood streets.

“Kids want some place to go. They want to be active. They want to go where they know that they’re safe. And this is that place. This is it,” said Kelli Moore, school athletic and finance director.

Located in the city’s Park Manor neighborhood, the athletic center is sandwiched between the violence-ridden areas of Englewood and Greater Grand Crossing. To the north and the south are Woodlawn and Chatham and just a few blocks away is a gang boundary. But they’ve never had a problem with violence in the gym.

Moore’s parents were married at St. Columbanus Church in 1957 and she grew up in the neighborhood.

“When we were here the athletic center was like a community center. It had skating. It had community nights. There was so much that we used to do,” she said.

She took over as athletic director 15 years ago.

“The neighborhood has changed so, so much that now I know that this place will help save the community,” she said. “There’s nothing around us that offers the activities that we offer for kids and families to just come and be kids and families.”

The athletic center hosts a basketball league from November through March with more than 800 student athletes from kindergarten through eighth grade. It’s open to all schools, not just Catholic. There’s also a girls division.

They get teams that come from all over the city and suburbs to participate.

“In a city that is so segregated community-wise it is extremely desegregated when you come to a game,” Moore said.

The athletic center also hosts a volleyball tournament, a track tournament with St. Rita High School, open basketball leagues in the summer, a men’s basketball league, cheerleading and chess.

“We are bustin’ out the seams,” Moore said, with activities booked almost every day and on weekends.

“There’s so much more we could do to keep our kids out of trouble if our facility was more up to date, more modern,” she said.

The parish has updated the facility from time to time but nothing major has been done. In fact, there’s no airconditioning and the floor is leftover from the former rollerskating rink.

The staff is all volunteers except for Moore and money from the leagues and fundraisers go to pay for utilities and maintenance of the gym.

They hope to raise money through donations, grants or sponsorships to make improvements to the aging gym and to add on to it so they can provide even more programs to the community.

There’s also something special about what goes on in the athletic center.

“The neat thing about us is that in doing it we have refused to lose our Catholic identity. We pray,” Moore said.

No matter what faith background the players profess, all gather together before and after the games to pray. They can pray anyway they want.

“It’s not so much about what the prayer is but that we meet on a level playing field,” she said.

Father Matt O’Donnell, pastor of St. Columbanus, said that the athletic center is really part of the life of the parish. Many of the volunteers and coaches also attend Mass at St. Columbanus so the kids participating in the leagues see them in church too.

They employ high school students in the concession stand and ticket office. The athletic center is all part of the mission of the Catholic Church.

“Our whole history is giving. That is just the history of being a Catholic person. It’s helping someone who needs help. Giving a hand. Not a hand out, a hand up. Just seeing a need and fulfilling a need,” said Moore. “And I think that’s what we do here. We walk our faith everyday. We don’t compromise what we do. We don’t allow you to question what we do. We just do it. If you want to come along we’ll bring you along because we’ll embrace you.”

For more information about the athletic center or to make a donation, call (773) 224-3811.