INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The public got to comment Thursday night on plans to expand the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in the Mid-North neighborhood.

Allison Luthe, executive director of the center, told News 8, “The MLK Center needs to expand. Tonight, we’re having an open house to look at some designs. we’re already at capacity as far as who we can take in the program.

“The elementary kids are in the basement, add an additional classroom space. gets the elementary kids, you know natural lighting and just being able to be kids. We are in partnership with Tamika Catchings and her Catch the Stars Foundation and the gymnasium component of it will be named after her. We think the cost will be about $15 million. We are just in the preliminary plans and fundraising stage but we hope to break ground in 2024.”

Luthe says organizers are in the “preliminary plans and fundraising stage,” but they hope to break ground on the expansion in 2024.

The MLK Center, founded as the Butler Tarkington Multi-Service Center in 1973, is located at 40 W. 40th Street. Its mission is to educate youth, empower families, and build community using Dr. King’s teachings and philosophies.