New youth center coming to Barrington

A plan to build a Christian youth center just north of The English Daisy Consignment shop at 200 S. Lageschulte St. was approved by the Barrington board of trustees at their meeting Monday night.

The plan also calls for the construction of a new art studio building that will be built just to the south of English Daisy, as well as an expansion of the existing English Daisy building. Also, the site's existing gravel lot will be paved and lit with new lights.

Chuck Kraft, the project's manager, said he has been trying to build a youth center in the area for years.

"We want to give them an opportunity to be exposed to a relationship with Christ," Kraft said Monday night after the board voted unanimously to approve the project.

The youth center will be located just three blocks from Barrington High.

According to village documents, the youth center will be in a new 4,000-square-foot building.

Jennifer Tennant, the village's assistant director of development services, said the youth center will house an auditorium and a coffee shop.

Kraft said the plan is for the youth center to be operated by the nonprofit organization Youth For Christ, who will provide programming for middle and high school students.

Kraft said work will begin on building the youth center, the art studio and the parking lot in the spring. He said the expansion on English Daisy should get started before then.

The art studio will be in a new 1,500-square-foot, one-story building.

Village Manager Jeff Lawler said 200 S. Lageschulte has primarily been a storage yard since the 1980s. Barrington High School students have paid to park their cars there as well, a practice that will continue under the new plan.

The plan also calls for the eventual addition of a sidewalk along Lageschulte. Greg Summers, the director of development services for the village, said the sidewalk could be built as soon as 2018.