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Groups to seek input about teen center idea
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Adults hope young people will get involved in planning efforts
By MEGAN DOYLE
H&N Staff Writer
Amanda Primorac thinks it’s sad that window-shopping is sometimes the highlight of her week.
The 18-year-old is finished with school and is between jobs this summer.
“If you don’t have a job, there’s nothing to do in this town,” she said.
She keeps busy by playing “Dance, Dance, Revolution,” a video game where the gamer dances to programmed steps and tries to keep up.
The proposed Klamath Falls community center would be a place where rafting and climbing trips could be organized, Vought said.
She knows teens say they just want a place to hang out, but she also would like a center to offer programs including trips, access to computers and other activities to keep youth engaged.
“Kids aren’t initially going to say, ‘These are the things I want to do,’ because they aren’t aware of them,” she said.
Together, the organizing agencies received a grant for a feasibility study. The project could take five to seven years to complete, said Beverly Leigh, Commission on Children and Families director.
It will start with a public needs assessment that will be done in mid-September and October. That’s when she hopes teens will get involved.
One section of the feasibility study will discuss financial sustainability. The organizers hope that a variety of organizations will want to rent space in the center, generating income.
“We believe there is interest in the community,” Leigh said. “We know it works elsewhere.”
“There’s no job openings, gas is insane and it’s too hot to walk anywhere,” she said.
Primorac shares the opinion of many teens around the Klamath Basin who believe they need a place to hang out — a free-of-cost swimming pool, a mall, waterslide park or an open gym to play basketball.
Klamath Falls groups plan to do just that. But they say they need young people to get involved in planning efforts so they know teens would use the offerings.
Citizens for Safe Schools, the Commission for Children and Families and the Klamath County Senior Center are researching a community center, which would house several organizations, including a place for teens.
The plan is modeled on a community center in Winston, Ore., which features space for a senior center, youth center, library branch, meal site and community theater.
“We really want to do for young people what they’ve been asking us for, for a long time,” said Debbie Vought of Citizens for Safe Schools.
The 18-year-old is finished with school and is between jobs this summer.
“If you don’t have a job, there’s nothing to do in this town,” she said.
She keeps busy by playing “Dance, Dance, Revolution,” a video game where the gamer dances to programmed steps and tries to keep up.
The proposed Klamath Falls community center would be a place where rafting and climbing trips could be organized, Vought said.
She knows teens say they just want a place to hang out, but she also would like a center to offer programs including trips, access to computers and other activities to keep youth engaged.
“Kids aren’t initially going to say, ‘These are the things I want to do,’ because they aren’t aware of them,” she said.
Together, the organizing agencies received a grant for a feasibility study. The project could take five to seven years to complete, said Beverly Leigh, Commission on Children and Families director.
It will start with a public needs assessment that will be done in mid-September and October. That’s when she hopes teens will get involved.
One section of the feasibility study will discuss financial sustainability. The organizers hope that a variety of organizations will want to rent space in the center, generating income.
“We believe there is interest in the community,” Leigh said. “We know it works elsewhere.”
“There’s no job openings, gas is insane and it’s too hot to walk anywhere,” she said.
Primorac shares the opinion of many teens around the Klamath Basin who believe they need a place to hang out — a free-of-cost swimming pool, a mall, waterslide park or an open gym to play basketball.
Klamath Falls groups plan to do just that. But they say they need young people to get involved in planning efforts so they know teens would use the offerings.
Citizens for Safe Schools, the Commission for Children and Families and the Klamath County Senior Center are researching a community center, which would house several organizations, including a place for teens.
The plan is modeled on a community center in Winston, Ore., which features space for a senior center, youth center, library branch, meal site and community theater.
“We really want to do for young people what they’ve been asking us for, for a long time,” said Debbie Vought of Citizens for Safe Schools.
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| Leading the way |
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