All that's left of the locker room walls...
A few weeks ago, Father John announced that the Club had received a grant from the Mabel Riley Foundation for a new teen center to be constructed in the space formerly occupied by the Savio shower rooms and locker area. Well, Joe Mario’s crew lost no time in cranking up the next phase of their project.
Actually, the check had not even cleared the bank when walls started coming down and workers started clearing mountains of debris. Even a casual visitor to the Club would not fail to notice the dust cloud that settled over much of the building!
Tough work, but we got it done!
The new center will include an area for games, a lounge area, a small computer center, and a snack area for those insatiable teen-age appetites! There will be an office/work area for a full-time Teen Center Director. In effect, the new space will function as a “club within a club” for the older members. It may even have its own dedicated entrance.
A view of what will be the lounge area.
Why all this? Boys & Girls Clubs all over the country have experienced difficulty in keeping older club members around. There is a definite drop in enrollment after the age of 13–not only here, but across the nation. Teens want a space they can call “their own.” Their needs are different; they need slightly different programming, and a little less structure than the younger members. In short, they need to know that, when they come to the Club, they do not have to spend all their time “escaping their little brothers and sisters!”
Father John expects that, if all goes according to schedule, the new teen center will be ready for use in September 2010. According to him, the hardest part now will be “deciding what furniture goes where!”
Fr. John is standing where the computers will be set up; he's pointing out one of several windows into the Games Room area.
Tags: construction, teen center, teens