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City renames rec center

New name honors man who helped build it

By Sharon McBrayer | The News Herald

Published: February 3, 2010

Morganton - Collett Street Recreation Center has a new name that will honor a man known in the city and state-wide for his dedication to recreation.
The center was renamed the H. Clinton Foust Collett Street Recreation Center on Monday. Foust also will be inducted into the Burke County Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday.
The Morganton Parks and Recreation Foundation, which owns the recreation center, voted to change the name, and on Monday the city council endorsed the name change. The city leases the center from the foundation, as well as other recreation complexes, to operate its recreation programs, said Gary Leonhardt, director of parks and recreation for the city.
Foust's name is synonymous with recreation.
His son, Mike Foust, the aquatic programs supervisor for Morganton, told the city council on Monday, "That was dad's home away from home."
Mike Foust said his father was at the recreation center night and day.
"He loved it," he said.
Clinton Foust was the director of Morganton Recreation Department in 1958 and retired in February 1992.
He served as director when the south was struggling with racial integration in the schools, as well as in recreation programs.
Leonhardt said the recreation center opened around September 1964 for a short period. The foundation closed it a short time later with the intention of opening again as a fully integrated recreation center. The center opened again in 1965 integrated, Leonhardt said.
The foundation looked to Clint Foust for guidance that helped the foundation make the decision to integrate, Leonhardt said.
A lot of the success of how smoothly the integration went, Leonhardt said, was a testament to Foust, and recreation employees Forney Happoldt and Carl Evans. They were the ones who taught the kids how to play together, he said.
Because of the integration of the recreation programs, integration of the schools was easier as the kids already were meeting on the ball fields, Leonhardt said.
Leonhardt said Hickory was going through the same thing at the time but went in the opposite direction of Morganton. He said the Hickory recreation center closed and then reopened as a private foundation club. Years later, the city of Hickory started its own recreation program, Leonhardt said.
Collett Street Recreation was built under Foust's direction, as well as additions to Mountain View Recreation Center.
He oversaw construction of Shuey Park, Carbon City Park, the Children's Park, Shadowline Park, the skeet range and softball fields at Ralph Edwards Nursery, Gene Turner Park and Freedom Park, according to information from the city.
Foust retired in 1992. Leonhardt, whom Foust hired full-time in 1969, took over as director after Foust retired.
Leonhardt said Foust knew the field of recreation better than anybody he's ever met. He said there was never a time that the doors of the recreation center were open that Foust wasn't there.
Foust served as president of the N.C. Recreation and Parks Society in 1967 and was honored with the organization's highest recognition in 1969, the Fellow Award.