Arlington Hts. Teen Center shuts its doors
A timer in the lobby counted down the hours left in the life of the Arlington Heights Teen Center. Underneath it, "Doomsday" was scribbled across a whiteboard. On Friday at 9 p.m. the village would officially pulled the plug on the teen center.
The staff and children at the center were trying to make the best of the day, and give the center the send-off they felt it deserved after 15 years of serving the community. Boys and girls of middle and high school age played air hockey, pool, and video games. They gossiped, ran in the park and tried to enjoy their last hours at a favorite hangout.
"It's a real shame. The board of trustees and the village manager are making a huge mistake," said Assistant Manager Cindy Gagliano as she held back tears.
"They can't take our work away from us because it walks out the door every night with those kids."
"I just loved the atmosphere and interacting with the kids," said Gagliano, who worked there 14 years.
The teen center was one of many casualties as Arlington Heights tried to trim its 2010-11 budget by about $4 million.
Kathy Scortino, co-chairman of the village's youth commission, proposed the center's budget of $358,000 be cut to $176,000 in an effort to save it; and trustees also gave the center some time to try to find alternate funding.
In the end it didn't happen, and the board voted 7-2 to close the center by May 1.
"This place means so much to the kids. They come and tell me if it weren't for this place, they'd never have met so many of their friends," said Mike Clingingsmith, the manager of the center. The center averaged around 3,000 visits a month.
Clingingsmith estimated that with fundraising and revenue generated from food sales, the center probably would have cost the city $90,000 to $100,000 a year. He is frustrated the city didn't find the center worth that price and said the staff all took pay cuts to try and keep the center open.
"I met lots of friends here and the staff was really nice," said Riley Finn, 11, a student at Our Lady of Wayside School.
"My second life started here," added Brady Schwartz, 12, a student at South Middle School.
Josh Irsay, 19, a Harper College student who now works at the center, starting coming in sixth grade.
"I'm going to miss the people I've met here, and the relationships it's given me," said Irsay.