Behind a heavy door inside the old Hilltoppers gymnasium is a stairwell leading to the bowels of the former Southeastern Middle School.
A quick pass through a locker room leads to a four-lane swimming pool that is empty, save for an old tetherball sitting at the bottom of the deep end. The room is dark, visible only with a flashlight. An old rotary dial telephone is still affixed to a wall, a relic of the natatorium that was built in 1930.
Bishop Tino Smith of Kingdom Builders Worldwide, which operates its church and community center out of the former Battle Creek Public Schools building, looks at the campus pool and old tennis courts and sees potential.