Jimmy Lee

I think I met Jimmy Lee once. It would not have been a personal meeting but I think he was introduced at a community meeting in the Summit-University area in the early 1970s. I do know that I was aware that he was involved in athletics and the teaching and officiating of sports and that he was the first black man to officiate at the levels he did, at least here in Minnesota. When the city decided to rename Oxford Recreation Center after him, it was easy to understand their thinking.

The overruns and continuing ongoing problems connected with building the new recreation center do not do anybody’s memory well, but it looks like the project is almost finished, even if there are fewer houses in the neighborhood to provide clients. And the reviews have been good.

I would hope in time that people forget about the costs and snafus and just enjoy and use the facility and appreciate people like the man for whom it was named and others like him who have gone on to another arena.

An article about Mr. Lee inspired this post and can be found here.