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Batavia Teen Center looks to revamp offerings

Nearly 18 years after it opened, the Batavia Teen Center is again asking teenagers what they want of it.

“We’re looking to revamp our program portfolio to meet the needs and wants of the teens in the community,” Kristin Bykowski, recreation supervisor, said in a news release. “I want to listen to their ideas and learn more about what they would like the Teen Center to become.”

High schoolers are invited to focus groups at 7 p.m. Jan. 7 and 15. Middle schoolers will meet at 7 p.m. Jan. 8 and 14. Refreshments will be served.

The meetings will be held in the Peg Bond Center at the Riverwalk, Island Avenue and Houston Street.

Teenagers, park district staff members and government officials developed the concept for the teen center in May 1995, and it opened in February 1996 in its current location, 27 N. Prairie St.

It has hosted after-school drop-in programs, crafts, sports, contests and dances. It organizes trips and teen-only nights at Hall Quarry Beach.

The teens have also helped with the “Haunted Quarry” Halloween event.

A July 2012 strategic master plan on the district’s website noted that interest in trips, however, was in decline. It also noted that there had been a 23 percent cecline in registration for teen-oriented programs from 2009 to 2011.

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