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A new gymnasium in Bordwell Park will be named in honor of a longtime Riverside community leader and youth advocate.
The Riverside City Council last week unanimously approved naming the community center after local leader Adrian Dell Roberts. It was declared the Dell Roberts Gymnasium.
Roberts is president of the Bordwell Park Advisory group, and has been an advocate for thenew gymnasium, according to a city report prepared ahead of the City Council’s Nov. 18 meeting.
Roberts moved to Riverside in 1945 and became a fixture in the city’s Eastside neighborhood. He was hired as a special assistant to the principal in charge of discipline at Poly High School in 1968, where he launched the Black Student Union and Multi-Cultural Council. He started at the district office in 1989 and retired in 2003.
He won the Frank Miller Civic Achievement Award in 2022. The award began in 1997 to honor those who have made significant contributions to Riverside.
Roberts and his wife, Carmen Roberts, later started the Adrian Dell and Carmen Roberts Foundation to promote family and culture in Riverside.
Riverside secured $5 million in funding for the Bordwell Park gymnasium in 2023 through the American Rescue Plan Act. In January 2025, the gymnasium naming request was discussed by the Bordwell Park Advisory Group with unanimous support from members of the MLK Club, small business owners, pastors, community members, city officials and more community groups, according to the city.
The city broke ground on the gymnasium in August 2025. Construction is expected to wrap up in winter 2026.
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