New Youth Center Opens

Hundreds of neighborhood teenagers, residents and parents joined with city officials Saturday for the opening of a sparkling new Area 4 Youth Center.

The center, which cost nearly $3 million to build, is the product of years of advocacy and planning by neighborhood residents. There was a sense of triumph in people's comments Saturday, amidst the sounds of bouncing basketballs (on the two freshly surfaced outside courts) and the smell of grilling hamburgers (food for the grand opening).

"It's a beautiful facility," said George Greenidge Jr., the director of the new, three-story center located at 243 Harvard St.

"It's a great day for the city, for Area 4 and for the youth of Area 4," said City Councillor Sheila T. Russell.

City Manager Robert W. Healy, who approved spending nearly $3 million on a building originally budgeted for $1 million, said, "We just have a wonderful facility that accommodates just about anything that anybody thought of."

From the dance studio in the basement, with its mirrored walls, to the weathervane, which is shaped like the number four, the Youth Center many entered for the first time Saturday is anything but humble.

On the first floor, a game room featured brand new ping pong and pool tables. Two pool cues remained in plastic wrapping from the store.

In the entrance hallway, pictures of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela leaned on the floor against a wall, ready to be hung. Another room had a television and a VCR. The upper level gym has a shiny wooden floor, and the building boasts skylights and big windows all around.

The quality of the building was mentioned as an important factor by some speakers at the grand opening who hoped it would be a source of pride for residents of the "neighborhood without a name," one of the city's poorest areas.

"We want there not to be any disparate thinking that Area 4 has been left out, ever, ever again," said Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves '72.

Eileen Keegan, director of community and youth services for the city, told Area 4 youths, "you have the best youth center in the city."

The teenagers seemed to realize that. "I'm real proud to be part of this," said Anthony Clark, a member of the "Area 4 Youth Center Action Committee," who will be a senior at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in September.

With the hope and pride, however, came an uneasy fear. "I'm afraid it'll get vandalized," said Kenny Marshall, 14, another member of the Youth Action Committee. He said teens who got kicked out of the center for misbehaving might get angry and put graffiti on the outside.

Greenidge said orientation sessions would teach teens to take care of the center, and he said vandalism was unlikely.

"We've been fighting for it so long...We're not going to let anyone mess it up," said Greenidge, who grew up in Area 4.

The Youth Center will serve young people ages nine to 19 who pay a $5 fee to join for a year. An independent city day care center housed in the basement of the building takes care of younger children.

Greenidge said about 1,000 young people live in the area. Before, they used smaller, temporary youth centers located in area schools.

Marshall said the Youth Action Committee is already planning events like a basketball and volleyball tournament and camping trips.

Kareem Marshall, age 11, said he planned to use the facility to play basketball and to do homework.

Greenidge said he hopes the youth center will become "a focal point of the community for the youth."

"When I was growing up, there was nowhere to go," Greenidge said.

While the building's grand opening was Saturday, programs won't begin for another two weeks, after more furniture arrives and finishing touches are put on the building.

Members of Carpenters' Local 40 handed out leaflets at the event, calling it "bad news" that the youth center was built by Tocci Building Corp, a non-union contractor that the union said "undermines standards for working people in the area.

"It's a great day for the city, for Area 4 and for the youth of Area 4," said City Councillor Sheila T. Russell.

City Manager Robert W. Healy, who approved spending nearly $3 million on a building originally budgeted for $1 million, said, "We just have a wonderful facility that accommodates just about anything that anybody thought of."

From the dance studio in the basement, with its mirrored walls, to the weathervane, which is shaped like the number four, the Youth Center many entered for the first time Saturday is anything but humble.

On the first floor, a game room featured brand new ping pong and pool tables. Two pool cues remained in plastic wrapping from the store.

In the entrance hallway, pictures of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela leaned on the floor against a wall, ready to be hung. Another room had a television and a VCR. The upper level gym has a shiny wooden floor, and the building boasts skylights and big windows all around.

The quality of the building was mentioned as an important factor by some speakers at the grand opening who hoped it would be a source of pride for residents of the "neighborhood without a name," one of the city's poorest areas.

"We want there not to be any disparate thinking that Area 4 has been left out, ever, ever again," said Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves '72.

Eileen Keegan, director of community and youth services for the city, told Area 4 youths, "you have the best youth center in the city."

The teenagers seemed to realize that. "I'm real proud to be part of this," said Anthony Clark, a member of the "Area 4 Youth Center Action Committee," who will be a senior at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in September.

With the hope and pride, however, came an uneasy fear. "I'm afraid it'll get vandalized," said Kenny Marshall, 14, another member of the Youth Action Committee. He said teens who got kicked out of the center for misbehaving might get angry and put graffiti on the outside.

Greenidge said orientation sessions would teach teens to take care of the center, and he said vandalism was unlikely.

"We've been fighting for it so long...We're not going to let anyone mess it up," said Greenidge, who grew up in Area 4.

The Youth Center will serve young people ages nine to 19 who pay a $5 fee to join for a year. An independent city day care center housed in the basement of the building takes care of younger children.

Greenidge said about 1,000 young people live in the area. Before, they used smaller, temporary youth centers located in area schools.

Marshall said the Youth Action Committee is already planning events like a basketball and volleyball tournament and camping trips.

Kareem Marshall, age 11, said he planned to use the facility to play basketball and to do homework.

Greenidge said he hopes the youth center will become "a focal point of the community for the youth."

"When I was growing up, there was nowhere to go," Greenidge said.

While the building's grand opening was Saturday, programs won't begin for another two weeks, after more furniture arrives and finishing touches are put on the building.

Members of Carpenters' Local 40 handed out leaflets at the event, calling it "bad news" that the youth center was built by Tocci Building Corp, a non-union contractor that the union said "undermines standards for working people in the area.