SEQUIM — It’s at the top of the mayor’s list and it could see some $100,000 in city money — but will it be cool?
And must it be set apart?
A teen center has long been on the minds of Mayor Walt Schubert, Police Chief Robert Spinks and the board of the Olympic Peninsula Boys & Girls Clubs.
Todd Bale, the clubs’ executive director, is asking Sequim for $100,000 to expand its programs — which he good-naturedly calls “orchestrated chaos” — and add nighttime activities for teenagers.
The 17-year-old club at 400 W. Fir St. provides an after-school haven for kids ages 5 to 18.
If Bale’s plan pans out, it would reopen for teens only from 6:15 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Teenagers would have the run of the place, including the club’s computer room and gym, Bale said.
“They’re stuck in the teen room [now],” he added.
“We need to keep them separate” from the younger children, who roam the rest of the club all afternoon, he said.
The nighttime-hours idea got rave reviews from middle and high school students at the Boys & Girls Club on Monday afternoon.
“That would be awesome,” said Mikayla Adams, 13.
“I would so be here,” added Nicole Eldredge, also 13.
The teen room has a soda machine, a television and a pool table — but the computers and hoops outside would make things more interesting.
“I’d definitely come two or three nights a week,” said Jesse Shaw, 18, “especially if there’s food.”
Seeking to serve meals
Bale said he’s working on getting a Department of Social and Health Services license to fuel teens’ evening frolic with a hot meal from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Bale also wants to hire a full-time coordinator to spread word of expansion around Sequim schools.
Schubert said Monday that he’s in favor of creating that position and providing a place particularly for teenagers — but he thinks a separate building would appeal to the teen crowd more than the existing Boys & Girls Club does.
“Teenagers think of [the club] as a little kids’ place,” the mayor said, adding that he expects Jacob Larsen and Erika Robertson, the two Sequim High School students serving as honorary City Council members, to survey their classmates on the topic.
Then, “hopefully we can come up with something separate,” Schubert said.
Bale said construction of another building could be too expensive a proposition right now.
Said Schubert: “I’ve got some ideas. . . . I’m going to go out to businesses and ask for money. There’s no reason why we can’t fund a new building.
“I’ve got the rest of this year and next year as mayor,” he added.
“I’m going to try to use my influence.”
