The transformation from a neighborhood school to a community center began around 1916. In that year, the Miami Athletics, a semi-pro football team, asked the Board of Education to allow the team to use the building as a dressing room and the grounds as a practice field. In the following year, a group of citizens went one step further and asked the board to turn the grounds over to the community for a playground and meeting place. Soon after, Lincoln Community Center Hall was opened.

The spirit of the association is probably best summed up by the preamble to its constitution. The Center was to: “Promote the welfare of the Negroes of Troy and the vicinity, allow the use of its grounds and hall for social and festive purposes, establish recreational facilities for the children of Troy, and disperse charity to the aged and needy, so far as funds will permit.”