Zion Baptist Church breaks ground on new Sullivan Community Impact Center

Elected officials and community leaders gathered outside Zion Baptist Church recently to break ground on the new Rev. Leon H. Sullivan Community Impact Center.

— TRIBUNE PHOTO / KYLAN WATSON

Kylan Watson Tribune Correspondent I Feb 24, 2025

Dozens of community members recently gathered at Zion Baptist Church in North Philadelphia to witness the groundbreaking ceremony for the Rev. Leon H. Sullivan Community Impact Center.

For years the former Zion Baptist Church annex had been dormant and in disrepair. It will finally be reconstructed and repurposed as a community center that will be able to better serve the North Philadelphia area.

The center is expected to open sometime in 2026 and named after Zion’s former pastor and civil rights leader.

“Today is monumental,” said Lenise Miller, a 58-year resident of Nicetown-Tioga. “What all of you have collectively done was not on impulse, but a vision, a dream, an act of obedience, all of you are a man or woman running after God’s own heart. You have a heart for God’s people no matter their cultural background.”

Miller emphasized during her speech the community impact center will be a place of health, hope, and love for multiple generations to be blessed by the center.

Zion and its partners have raised about $18 million so far for the project and that represents a significant investment and partnership with the community to help make a difference in North Philadelphia. The project was spearheaded by the Rev. Mike Major and other partners.

“This project shows you what public/private partnerships can do, and these public/private partnerships create equitable community development,” said Philadelphia Councilman Jeffrey Young. “That goes to show you that the community has been involved with this process every single step of the way, and as long as the community is at the forefront then projects like this will always be successful for the next generation.”

The new facility will be home to a community arts center, cafe and bookstore. The Department of Family and Community Medicine at Temple University will also be headquartered there, in partnership with Temple’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine.

“It is a profound honor to be here to witness my grandfather’s legacy thriving in the hearts and minds of so many,” said Elisabeth Johnson who is Sullivan’s granddaughter. “He had the audacity to plant the seed of championship in every human being, and for this many have a great admiration for him.”

The Rev. Leon Sullivan helped establish the first African-American-owned shopping center, Progress Plaza, which is on North Broad Street. — IMAGE/OIC PHILADELPHIA

Former Mayor John Street said he had a special relationship with Sullivan.

“The project we are here today to celebrate is a fitting tribute to all that he has done not only in Philadelphia, but around the country, and the world,” Street said. “This community is a special community, these services are desperately needed. There could not possibly be a better time to have an impact center right here in North Philadelphia.”

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