Two Bogalusa men took it upon themselves to clean up the old YMCA property on Avenue U.

Brian McCree and Jonathan Bickham were out cutting the grass and blowing it away from the sidewalk early Tuesday morning. They said their single motivation was community pride.

“We’re just cleaning up out here because the property has been neglected,” said McCree, who represents District C on the Bogalusa City Council. “It should be fixed up for the community where the children can swim and shoot basketball. They should be able to come from this neighborhood and not have to go all the way across town to the other YMCA. I grew up here and know what it’s like.”

Bickham agreed.

“Nobody else was putting in an effort to clean up the property, so Brian and I got together and decided we would clean it up. I own a grass cutting business and I ride by here every day,” he said.

Despite the property being badly in need of repair, McCree said he would like to see the property revitalized.

“We would like to see some kind of community support for this building to get it back up and running,” McCree said. “I would like to see some type of community or recreation center.”

“The least we can do is keep the yard up,” Bickham said. “We’re going to try and cut the grass at least every two weeks.”

McCree said he has tentative plans to try and get the building operational again. He said he’d unveil those ideas in the near future.