North Side meeting discusses quieter role for Cultural Diversity Center

North Richmond residents and community leaders met last night to discuss the future of the Cultural Diversity Center, with some participants addressing how the business might succeed in a way that doesn't disturb its neighbors.

Jeff Neal, chairman of the North Richmond H.O.P.E. Council, which called the neighborhood meeting, criticized what he called "disgusting" fliers that were being distributed by promoters of teenage parties at the center. The fliers enticed girls to wear bathing suits or other skimpy attire.

But Neal said that residents must realize that Freddie Robinson, who rents the building on North Avenue from a church and was lending it to promoters for the parties, is running a business and needs to make money.

"This man has to pay rent -- he has a business," Neal said at the meeting, which was attended by more than 35 people, including police officials, a city prosecutor and 3rd District Councilman Chris A. Hilbert, who represents the North Side.

The Battery Park Civic Association has opposed the nighttime, alcohol-free parties because after they are over, more than 200 teens often congregate outside. Fights sometimes break out, and residents have reported random gunfire.

Two Thursdays ago, police officers heard gunshots outside the center, which is known as the CDC, after one of the parties. One man mistakenly thought he'd been shot, police said.

Now, Robinson says he no longer plans to have parties for teens. Neal asked members of the civic association that they not oppose the CDC when temporary alcohol licenses are sought for adult banquets there.

Todd Hardy, president of the civic association, said after last night's meeting that he would have to speak to the group's members before he could comment on Neal's proposal.

Sarah Camus, who lives on Garland Avenue near the CDC, said she doesn't want the building hosting adult events where alcohol is served, either.

"When I bought my house, that was not a nightclub; that was a church," Camus said.

Robinson is treasurer of the H.O.P.E. Council, a nonprofit community organization, and also vice president of the Brookland Park Area Association, a merchants group of which Neal is president.

Robinson said he too was disgusted by the risqué fliers, but he expressed frustration by what he said was a concerted effort by members of the Battery Park association to shut down his business. He also said that the problems were occurring after the parties, outside the building and out of his control.

"The problem is dispersal," he said. "We can't get them to go home."

The CDC also hosts church services on Sundays and provides a venue for luncheons, banquets, birthday parties and meetings for nonprofit organizations, Robinson said.

The pastor of New Jerusalem International Christian Ministries, the church that owns the building and rents it to Robinson, has said he disapproves of the teen parties.

Robinson said last night that a lawyer representing him is in discussions with a lawyer representing New Jerusalem. He declined to elaborate.

Contact Reed Williams at (804) 649-6332 or .