Center Open Weekend Nights To Keep Kids Out Of Trouble

There’s nothing worse than being bored out of your mind.

That’s why Bobby Halmossy rode his bike 30 blocks Friday to play video games and pingpong.

At the Libby Teen Center, 2900 E. First, the 15-year-old can entertain himself and put a few leadership skills to work.

What would he have been doing Friday if he hadn’t been figuring out who was signed up to play pool next or whipping center director Dan White at pingpong?

“Nothing.”

Instead, Bobby headed out for the center’s first shot at night hours. Fridays and Saturdays now include entertainment and an open gym from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.

The center inside the former Spokane School District 81 middle school is a nonprofit operation set up to give kids ages 12 to 18 a chance to get out of the house without getting into trouble. It opened in June 1996 with limited activities, including some YMCA- and Spokane police-sponsored programs.

Now that White, the former family and youth program director for the Seattle area YMCA, is on board, he hopes things will pick up.

“They just don’t have anything to do,” White said of his clients. “They need the attention. They need the support.”

When some of the kids weren’t getting that attention, White said, janitors chased them off the former school’s roof and often caught them vandalizing property in the area.

“This gives them a place to go instead of hanging out on street corners,” White said.

Not everything was roses on opening night. A few teens left a little earlier than planned after smart mouths and hot tempers got them sent home.

“But they come back,” White said. “At least I know they want to be here.”

Eddie Woods bounced between a rambunctious game of pool and some pretty engrossing video games Friday.

The 13-year-old, ready for any competition, had one reason for being at the center.

“I get to meet other people,” he said.

David, who didn’t want to share his last name, shuffled between a card game of Uno and the graffiti wall, where he tried his skills drawing pool tables and cars.

“I can’t do any of this at home,” he said.

That was the sentiment of just about all of the dozen or so kids at the center.

Even if “Mars Attacks” were on the VCR at home, it wouldn’t be the same. They wanted to hang out somewhere else.

They also are waiting to see what’s to come at the center.

The plan includes having sound and lighting equipment in place for regular dances and performances.

“We want Fridays and Saturdays to be even more like a club setting,” White said.

Partnerships with police, schools and the Spokane Parks and Recreation Department mean activities such as computer use, job training and study sessions also will be held there.

Eventually, similar centers may be set up elsewhere in Spokane.

Eddie Woods is not so sure what that means for him. Right now at Libby, it just means he can goof off and sharpen his pool skills.

“It’s really pretty fun,” he said. “I like to hang out.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo