When the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center first opened in 1995, the community-oriented facility was lauded as a momentous tribute to a devoted city figure, an overdue investment in state athletics, and a much-needed asset for the Roxbury neighborhood.

But nearly 30 years later, what was once a state-of-the-art facility has lost its luster. Parts of the center are worn out after decades of depreciation, and some of its most crucial staffing slots are vacant. And while the initial vision of the center was to keep it open and accessible to all, some said they have recently felt shut out.

That’s why the center’s owner, Roxbury Community College (RCC), charged a committee last March with providing recommendations for renovating and maintaining the vital neighborhood institution, leading to the release this month of “A Blueprint for the Future: The Pathway Forward.’’

Some suggestions in the 16-page report include allocating $10 million toward repairs, while another involves creating a committee that would advise the college on ways to improve the facility. Other suggestions would allow the center to keep all of its profits and give it its own budget, separate from RCC. Each recommendation, those behind the report say, is designed to help the center, known as the Reggie, keep up with the growing needs of the state’s athletic community and the rapidly developing neighborhood.

“It’s such an important part of the college that we wanted to take time to reflect on how it’s structured now, what services it’s providing, and where it needs to go in the future,’’ said Jackie Jenkins-Scott, interim president of RCC. Those involved in the report said they would work with elected officials to secure the funding needed for the repairs, separate from RCC’s budget.

The Reggie, named for the beloved Celtics player who used his basketball fortune to help Bostonians in need, has a storied past. After Lewis died at 27 of cardiac arrest while training in 1993, the community rallied to name the forthcoming facility in his honor.

In its heyday, the Reggie helped track athletes realize their full potential. When Hatim Jean-Louis of Roxbury, now 44, participated in one of the first Reggie track meets in 1995 as a Randolph High School senior, running on the track felt like “sliding on a pair of new shoes,’’ he said.

Providing a state-of-the-art facility for “a young man, an insecure teenager who just wanted attention, was huge for me,’’ said Jean-Louis, who now coaches a cross-country team of high school students from across Boston.

But the Reggie’s impacts aren’t just felt by track and field athletes. As Jean-Louis shared his relationship to the Reggie over the phone, he looped in a co-worker who participated in a dance contest at the center in 2005.

“My heart is in running, but I can’t say it didn’t impact the youth in dance competitions, the kids, or it didn’t impact the elderly men or women who show up early in the morning to get their walks in,’’ Jean-Louis said.

In recent years, however, controversies have undermined the center’s status in the community. The issues boiled over in 2016, when the RCC fired the center’s longtime executive director, Keith McDermott. The college didn’t explain why McDermott was terminated, but his supporters believed he was penalized for his unwavering support of keeping the center widely open for athletic, senior, and community programming options during his 18-year tenure instead of giving in to demands to restrict facility access.

Soon after, then-attorney general Maura Healey, now the governor, launched a probe into RCC’s alleged mishandling of $120,000 raised by the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association at a Reggie fund-raiser. McDermott was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Separately, in 2021, a state audit showed that RCC improperly charged public high school track leagues nearly $100,000 for use of its track from 2017 to 2019.

McDermott’s termination and the resulting turmoil, some community members said, have shut them out of the Reggie’s programming altogether. Said Hassan Ahmed, a Boston schools attendance supervisor and cofounder of Boston United Track and Cross Country Club, said staff have rejected his club’s requests to use the facility for evening practice.

The Reggie’s founders “promised that all Boston kids would have a chance to practice there, and the chance to use it as a safe haven,’’ Ahmed, an English High School alumnus and national track champion, said. “That mission statement is gone.’’

To address community concerns, the report recommends forming an advisory committee to counsel the college on center-related matters. Charlie Titus, a retired University of Massachusetts Boston vice chancellor and athletic director, said a board made up of people who can advocate on the community’s behalf could help resolve such issues.

“One of the keys to help make it more inviting is to construct the reestablished advisory board and make it real, and not just a name,’’ said Titus, who also served as Pathway Forward committee chair.

The Pathway Forward report also recommends replacing the Reggie’s aged HVAC system, track, lighting, and bleachers — worn-out features that Titus said are a health and safety danger if not addressed immediately.

Indeed, many who use the center have already raised concerns. Jean-Louis said his students have come up with a name for a heavy, hacking noise athletes often make after performing at the center: “the Reggie cough.’’

The sweeping recommendations in the Pathway Forward report also come as billion-dollar corporations eye Boston as prime real estate for their own, private athletic centers — setting up competition for the Roxbury facility. Last year, New Balance opened its own state-of-the-art track facility across from its Brighton headquarters and earlier this month it moved its Indoor Grand Prix meet, held at the Reggie since 1996, to its new site.

The loss of a major track and field event could put a dent in the Reggie’s revenue. But Jenkins-Scott said there’s still public and private demand for the center, where “practically any night, the track is humming’’ with youth athletes.

On a recent Friday afternoon, the Reggie’s significance for state athletics was evident. High school students from the South Shore — Plymouth, Duxbury, Hingham, and Scituate — packed in to compete for gold in the Patriot League Championships. The sounds of a starting pistol, the pounding of feet against the track, and the shouting of parents filled the center — a flashback to the original vision for the facility.

State Representative Chynah Tyler, who has filed legislation to address some of the recommendations, including changes in the ways the center is funded, said a reimagining of the Reggie could not only finance the center’s future, but also ensure that no one in the community is left out of it.

“It’s not just for one individual, or a certain subset, or group; it’s for everyone,’’ Tyler said. As stakeholders imagine a new future for the Reggie, “we’re doing a lot of work to make sure that it’s a track and athletic center, and it’s most importantly accessible to the community.’’

Tiana Woodard is a Report for America corps member covering Black neighborhoods. She can be reached at tiana.woodard@ globe.com. Follow her on Twitter at @tianarochon.