Wheaton Park District looks to revamp failing teen 'Zone'

Lately, the "Teen Zone" at the Wheaton Park District Community Center has been more of a teen-free zone.

The Teen Zone is a 4,000-square-foot space that was established in 2001. Back then, teens would drop into the zone in strong numbers.

"Unfortunately, that is not the trend anymore," said Jen Kupferer, the district's teen supervisor, at a recent park board meeting. "We're seeing all across Illinois that teen drop-ins are not happening."

In Wheaton, the situation is so bad that the Teen Zone was lucky to have six teenagers visit in any month during 2007. As a result, the park district eliminated drop-in hours for the Teen Zone this February to save money on staffing.

The question going forward is how to get the teens to come back.

To do that, Kupferer is examining a technological makeover for the Teen Zone and drawing an example from the neighboring Carol Stream Park District and marketing ideas from the Park District of Oak Park.

The first step is a makeover that melds cutting-edge video game technology with training.

In other words, Dance, Dance Revolution systems, performance walls that require teens to squat and jump to hit targets and video climbing walls all are potential introductions to the Teen Zone in the near future.

"It looks like this will be the trend of the future," Kupferer said. "This is something that Wheaton kids will not have in their basements, which is a huge downfall of our current teen center."

Carol Stream recently outfitted its teen center with similar equipment at a price tag of about $40,000, Kupferer said.

Pairing with the technology upgrade will be some new programming, such as a sixth grade "Bliss" gathering that will allow new middle school students to meet and mingle with their new classmates before the school year begins.

The Teen Zone also will see an upgraded Web site and more marketing to an audience who aren't even teenagers just yet, such as fifth-graders.

"This is a little younger than we might consider teens in the past, but not only is it exciting for them, they are getting introduced to all of our offerings," Kupferer said. "It's also creating kind of a privileged sense so they think it is something cool."

Any changes will require the budgeting of new funds for the upgrades and the approval of the park board.