KENWOOD, Okla. — Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. and Deputy Chief Bryan Warner along with members of the Council of the Cherokee Nation and hundreds of Kenwood-area community members gathered to celebrate the grand opening of the Woody Hair Community Center on Thursday, June 6.
The new 33,000-square-foot facility houses a Head Start facility, an elder nutrition program, a space for Kenwood community members to hold community events, a wellness space and a place for school sporting events, traditional and cultural games, and more.
“The Woody Hair Community Center in Kenwood will serve a vital purpose for generations to come, giving families and young people a place to gather, a place to fellowship, a place to learn, and a place to perpetuate and share our lifeways,” Chief Hoskin said. “Within a 15-mile radius of this community center are nearly 16,000 Cherokee citizens, so we know this building is going to be a positive change in the Kenwood community and surrounding communities. Today represents the basic choice we are making at Cherokee Nation: we can either choose to let the rural communities our ancestors founded wither on the vine, or we can choose to invest in their resurgence. We are choosing resurgence.”
The tribe invested an approximate total of $21 million for the new facility, including crucial water infrastructure investments that support the new building along with the community of Kenwood as a whole.
The Woody Hair Community Center is also the home to a 1,300-square-foot wellness space and locker rooms that will double as safe areas during severe weather. An 11,000-square-foot multi-purpose gym for high school sports and community basketball and volleyball tournaments is also included. The gym will be able to seat over 400 people for banquet-style events.
The facility will be staffed by Cherokee Nation Public Health, including Program Coordinator Robert “Daine” Pippen. Hours of operations and activities will be announced in the future.
“This new facility in Kenwood will create a bright future for the community. Just think of the games that will be played here, the laughs and fellowship people will share, people changing their lives for the better at the wellness space and so much more. I’m thrilled to see all of the life that will be lived here in the future. When I see this building in its complete form, I see how much of a blessing it will be and positive progress that we’re making,” said Deputy Chief Warner. “I’m thankful that the Cherokee Nation is able to invest in these communities and types of projects.”
The building includes two Head Start classrooms totaling more than 2,800 square feet and capable of welcoming up to 40 students. The Head Start will have an outdoor and covered play area, storm-safe areas, a commercial kitchen and staff offices.
The new construction also includes an outdoor basketball court, a quarter-mile walking path, a space for traditional Cherokee games, a shaded picnic/seating area and a new softball/baseball field with dugouts, bleacher seating, an announcer’s booth and restrooms.
“This new facility is awesome for not only the Kenwood community, but other communities around here as well,” Council of the Cherokee Nation Speaker Mike Shambaugh said. “I want to thank Chief Hoskin and Deputy Chief Warner for their support on getting this project going and completed. I know this building will be used and enjoyed for many years to come.”
During the celebration, Chief Hoskin also signed a memoranda of understanding with the One Fire Community Organization and Kenwood Public Schools for use of the facility. One Fire Community Organization is a Cherokee Nation Community and Cultural Outreach participating organization in the Kenwood community and will use part of facility for its operations. Kenwood school and the One Fire organization will work with Cherokee Nation on scheduling the facility for various community and school activities in addition to regular Cherokee Nation Public Health department programming.
“Having this community center here will bring people closer together, families closer, bringing up generations in our culture. Unity is so important, family is so important,” One Fire Community Organization President Bo Six said. “Thank you Chief Hoskin and Cherokee Nation for investing in our community and believing in us.”
The Cherokee Nation Woody Hair Community Center is named in honor of the late Woody Hair, who was a fluent Cherokee speaker from the Kenwood community.
Construction of the new building is one of more than 60 Cherokee Nation projects across the reservation worth a combined total of nearly $1.2 billion, representing the largest single capital investment in Cherokee Nation history.
B-roll video from Thursday’s event, including remarks by Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr., is available to download here.