Arlington Heights teen center stays open, for now
After dozens of Arlington Heights teenagers, parents and community members made impassioned pleas to the village board Monday night to keep the community's Teen Center open, the village board decided to hold off on closing it until at least the next fiscal year.
The board directed Teen Center staff and the village to research alternate funding options before the fiscal year 2010-11 budget review.
Members of a standing-room-only crowd had asked the board to consider all available options before deciding to close the center, including charging an entrance fee for the center, charging yearly membership dues, reducing center hours, or possibly asking the Arlington Heights Park District to administer the program.
The village had recommended closing the center in January as a money-saving measure.
The center now is open from 3 to 8 p.m. weekdays and noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays. In addition to recreational facilities, it offers informal counseling for teens on issues such as smoking, shoplifting and suicide.
"It would be a travesty for you to shut this place down," said Sean O'Carroll, 14, who attends South Middle School. The center offers more than a place to hang out and fosters leaders, he added.
O'Carroll said although he doesn't visit the Teen Center every day, "when I do, I have a great time" playing video games, table tennis, air hockey, and hanging out with friends.
"The Teen Center is a place that I love more than anything I do outside of school," said Jake Williams, 13, a South Middle School student. "The Teen Center is pretty much the place that I go to for encouragement, help, to be in a safe environment. Some kids, they don't really have the ability to have fun at their own house because of problems in their family, so the teen center is a good environment to go to. It is the place that everybody looks up to."
Proposing the center's closure was part of more than $3 million in cuts for the village. Those cuts include eliminating several village staff positions, which the board approved just before discussion on the Teen Center started.
The eliminations include 13 layoffs in early 2010, retirements and eliminating 12 vacant positions, resulting in 25 fewer jobs for fiscal year 2010-11.
Cutting the teen center would have saved the village $378,400. The center was slated for closure to help the village close its current fiscal year deficit of $459,000. Keeping the center open means the deficit will be roughly $870,000 this year.
Officials said the Teen Center had 44,000 visits last year, a significant increase from the 3,500 visits it had in 1995, when it opened in the former library at 112 N. Belmont Ave., across from Recreation Park.
Trustee Helen Jensen, who was not present for the Nov. 30 committee of the whole vote to close the center, said the village should study more options. "I believe the Teen Center, in some way, must be kept open," she said.