INDIANAPOLIS — While the city prepares for All-Star Weekend, the NBA is stepping into the community through the Legacy Project.
The NBA chooses only one community center in the city where the game is being hosted. This year's recipient is the Christamore House, a center that has been on the west side of Indianapolis for over 100 years.
"I am excited for the center, I'm excited for the neighbors we serve, I am mainly excited for our students, they are definitely going to get some neat stuff," Christamore House executive director La'Toya Pitts said.
Christamore House will be getting a new wellness room, STEM lab and an updated basketball court. These spaces will be open to the thousands of people they serve.
"When I put in this grant application, it was really based on what the community said they wanted," Pitts said. "So it wasn't a La'Toya project, it was my students have been asking for this, so let me find a way to make it happen."
While the project is centered around basketball, the main push it to give kids a safe space to play and learn.
"We want to use basketball as the initial convening reason why kids want to show up, but also support them in other aspects of their life, which we are doing at Christamore House," said Barbara Bush, the NBA's vice president of social responsibility.
But when the game is over, the project will keep this west side community on the map.
"We know the game will happen and people will be gone, but things we do here will continue, so the Christamore House Legacy Project is just one example of that," Corey Wilson, vice president of community engagement for Pacers Sports and Entertainment said.
The finished renovations were unveiled Thursday, Feb. 15, to kick off NBA All-Star Weekend.