Boston kids are back running laps on an indoor track at a beloved Roxbury recreation center, a “home” they were displaced from when the Healey administration converted it into a migrant shelter.

The Melnea A. Cass Recreational Complex has softly reopened its arena to permit holders who host local programming after migrants and homeless families left in the late spring and the facility underwent improvements.

Boston United held its first practice at the center on Saturday, returning to the venue where the youth track-and-field club started in 2011. Roughly a dozen kids showed up on the cool, rainy morning, running sprints on the track and engaging in drills on the infield — sweat dripping down their smiling faces.

After migrants sleeping at Logan Airport moved into the Cass, Boston United held its practices at the Reggie Lewis Center — a premier indoor track-and-field facility that tailors to many regional and state high school championship meets.

While the Cass doesn’t have the stands and as big of a track and infield as the Reggie, Sekou Dilday, club treasurer, told the Herald it felt good to be back “home.”

Standing on a new floor inside the arena, Dilday reflected on the uncertainty that the club experienced when Gov. Maura Healey announced the Cass would be converted into a temporary overflow site for migrants.

“We never knew exactly when the Cass was going to reopen or what the status of that would be,” Dilday said, “but the Cass once again opened their arms to us and allowed us to come back in.”

“Everything worked out where we didn’t have to miss one week,” he added. “We always had a place to go. It worked out in the long run.”

About 20 to 40 kids, ages 8 to 18, participate in Boston United’s fall cross-country program. They are gearing up for cross-country meets at Franklin Park after “sitting around all summer, going to barbecues,” Dilday said.

The Cass returned to the purview of the state Department of Conservation and Recreation at the end of May, in time for the pool to open to the public for the summer season.

Boston United hosts its program indoors in the winter and outdoors in the spring while providing summer conditioning and year-round academic support and guidance.

Other clubs also had to find alternative spaces, with city and state assistance.

Roughly 11 organizations — ranging in programming for youth to seniors — had rented out space at the Cass over the years, and most are likely to return, said Chris Sumner, the facility’s new executive director. He expects the center to fully reopen within four to six weeks.

Sumner grew up in Roxbury, playing hockey at the Cass, and he called it “very powerful” to oversee activities at a center that helped raise him.

After spending the past 35 years working at various city nonprofits, Sumner said he’s looking forward to holding educational workshops, sporting and cultural events, and social gatherings.

“My family was homeless in Roxbury, and you had agencies providing services like that,” Sumner told the Herald. “Where we are as a city, this building really needs to get back to those levels of services that have pivoted. The community is very eager for us to get back to our normal state of programming.”

Renovations — running at a cost of about $600,000 so far — include new flooring throughout the facility, an enhanced WiFi network and new athletic equipment, among other improvements.

Some upgrades including new roofing remain in the works.

Dorchester resident Marta Perez watched her two children practice on Saturday morning, saying it felt “very good” to be back at the Cass.

“They love to run,” she said in Spanish, speaking through a translator. “I love that they like to be entertained by the running, too.”

Roxbury resident Mary Alexandre agreed as her two sons, ages 6 and 9, who attend an independent school outside of Boston, wrapped up practice. She called the past year with the club a “rollercoaster” due to the displacement and return.

“It is complicated because I’m of Haitian descent so I actually understand the need to house (those) who need a place to live,” Alexandre said. “I also understand how disruptive it is for the children to not have a space to be active, especially in the wintertime.”

The Boston United Track Club holds its first workout back at the Melnea Cass Recreational Center in Roxbury. (Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)
The Boston United Track Club holds its first workout back at the Melnea Cass Recreational Center in Roxbury. (Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)
The Boston United Track Club holds its first workout back at the Melnea Cass Recreational Center in Roxbury. (Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)