Kirkland teen center's first year brought twists, successes

The challenge at the Kirkland Teen Center has been to blend a fickle and diverse age group, says Director Cory Shepard.

More than a year after opening its doors, the center appears to be on its way to becoming the community resource it was meant to be, say those who fought to make it a reality, as well as some who were skeptics.

Live rock, acoustic and hip-hop shows draw diverse teen crowds to the building in Peter Kirk Park several nights a month. Dozens visit daily to use the Internet, play indoor sports, relax in front of a big-screen TV or participate in "intergenerational programs" with adults at the adjoining Kirkland Senior Center.

Getting to this point hasn't been easy, however.

Kirkland debated for nearly a decade how to give the city's middle-schoolers and high-schoolers a safe, fun place to relax. With most nightclubs limited to those 21 and older and most parks aimed at younger kids, the city's Community Youth Task Force in 1993 called for a teen center.

Teen-driven "youth summits" recommended a downtown Kirkland site with an arcade and a food area. The topic of location grew divisive as the facility neared reality, with some residents and business owners conjuring up images of downtown Kirkland overrun by teens.

The city joined with Friends of Youth, a Redmond nonprofit agency, to open a temporary center in a former American Legion Hall on Fifth Avenue in 1999, later shifting teen programs to the senior center. Community unrest over Kirkland's new Teen Union Building waned after the decision was made to locate the $1.2 million, 5,800-square-foot building in Peter Kirk Park.

Several months after the center opened, the presence of smokers and some noisy older teens drew complaints from adults and families visiting the park. With the help of Kirkland's police and parks departments, the center imposed a 300-foot smoking ban and cracked down on profanities. Extra police patrols were added and arrests were made for drug-related violations, according to Janelle McMillian, the Police Department's neighborhood resource officer.

"Most of it was unrelated to the teen center," McMillian said.

Now, many former skeptics have embraced the center, saying it gives teens a place to call their own.

"The seniors were slow to accept it. Now they're excited it's here," said Betsy Maxwell, program assistant at Kirkland Senior Center.

After a quiet autumn, the teen center's computer lab, recording studio, darkroom, big-screen TV, pool tables and other amenities are drawing 30 to 45 teens a day, Shepard estimates.

The center is seeing regular attendance at art, break-dancing, photography, SAT preparation and Web-page-design classes. And Shepard hopes the walk-in tally will approach 90 once word spreads and the center activates its Web site, which will advertise events.

"We're trying to cater it to the whole teen body, not just to one crowd. It's a daunting task to get Joe Quarterback and Peter Punk Rock here at the same time," Shepard said.

One of the challenges the center faces is how to tailor self-enrichment classes — yoga, for example — to teens. Yoga instructor Cathy Breshears says teenagers probably take to yoga better than older people, since aches and years of bad eating habits have yet to rule their lives. Her problem is getting teens to show up for classes. Although the center has scheduled weekly yoga sessions since September, no-shows have forced Breshears to cancel each one.

Regulars Alex Hupp, 14, and Ilya Romanoff, 12, say they like the center but wish it had skateboarding classes.

As for yoga, "If my mom was a teenager, she'd go to that all the time," Romanoff said.