An all-Black boys gymnastics academy is at risk of closure due to strict zoning laws in Georgia, per HuffPost.
James Jones, who founded the James Jones Gymnastics Academy in 2019, currently trains dozens of young Black boys in a cramped former office space with low ceilings.
“These boys are teenagers, and most of them are almost 6 feet,” he said. “They’re literally kicking the ceiling.”
Jones said he’s spent the past year looking for a new location for his gym in Clayton County, where commercial real estate is more affordable. However, county zoning laws are blocking his efforts to relocate to nearby vacant warehouses, the only spaces large enough to accommodate his athletes.
“There are so many warehouses and buildings that are vacant and empty, but we can’t move to any,” Jones said. “