Bellevue teen center Ground Zero hangs on by hanging loose
The boys talked about a skateboard move called the "Ollie North." The girls talked about the cute guys they saw at a shoe store in the mall. The music bounced from hip-hop to punk rock.
Prime time at Bellevue's Ground Zero Teen Center brings anywhere from a dozen to 200 kids. With each day come new faces, new styles and new issues.
Today marks 10 years for the drop-in center, which remains successful primarily because of a willingness to let teens run the show.
Things at the center are loosely organized. If the kids want to play Frisbee, they go to the park. If they want to go to GameWorks, they plan a trip. If they want to learn how to blow glass, they bring in a glass blower. They were sick of pinball, so they turned their game room into a library.
This means the place is ever evolving. Coffee night was popular until the teens lost interest in lattes. Teen Closet, a donated-clothes event, got too big and moved. Cooking classes were supposed to be for girls, but the boys wanted to join.
"Strict programs are boring," said Malia Alexander, 17. "We like to be random."
The idea for the center came from a bunch of GenXers in 1992 who told the City Council they needed a place to hang out. The center opened two years later. It has had its ups and downs over the years, including an $80,000 soundproofing insisted on by neighbors. But it made it through, even using the City Council battle as a learning experience. The teens stated their case, got a chance to see government in action, and they won.
The building, originally a church, was purchased by the city with a teen center in mind.
"It wasn't going so well for the city, so they came to us in 1995 and asked us to run it," said Kathy Haggart, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club, which is next door. "We had a huge need for teen programming, so we jumped on the opportunity."
She agrees that the center's survival can be credited to a staff that "knows teens don't want to do the same thing over and over."
Though the center, which sits on 100th Avenue behind Bellevue Square, has undergone many changes over the years, two things remain constant: food and music.
Teen Feed on Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. is huge. Anyone 12 to 19 can get a free meal purchased with donated money. Last Thursday, Nintendo sprung for the barbecued chicken, potato salad and chips.
The kids went with staff to get groceries, waited while the food cooked, and then crammed into line with paper plates when it was ready. They scarfed it down and then waited again for seconds.
"These kids will eat pretty much anything," said Nefera Broadnax, the center's director. "Even cereal nights are popular."
After dinner, the teens migrate from room to room, talking about stuff their parents don't want to hear: cramming into a trunk when a car is too full, playing with fire, which girls are hot.
The center's music program puts on shows, gives guitar lessons for girls, offers a rock scholarship, and has a band rehearsal space, drum classes and a music advisory pool. Friday's late-night event has bands and stays open until 11 p.m.
The staff continues to work at creating the kind of place they would have liked growing up.
The shocking yellow walls are lined with band fliers and a space where the teens post newspaper stories that catch their interest. The latest subjects are gay weddings, cross burnings, police misconduct and vegetarianism. A purple coffee table painted with flowers is surrounded by couches.
In an hour you can learn the limit for saggy pants, gossip about who got kicked out of the club for smoking, and debate over who has the best CD collection.
"I would be so bored if I couldn't come here," said Britni Griffin, a 12-year-old student at Chinook Middle School and graduate of the Boys & Girls Club.
A computer lab downstairs allows teens to work. The center also has homework help, skate-park trips, talent shows, photography, painting classes and snowboarding trips. A drama program is in the works.
Most of the kids live nearby, but the center also transports kids from the Crossroads area.
"This is not an exclusive west Bellevue club," Haggart said.
And though boys are the majority, Alexander is working on a Girls Group she hopes will boost the number of females.
"I like it here because no one tells me what to do, no one gets made fun of, you can dress like you want, and the staff acts like friends," said Lisa McGee, who said she'll be 13 really soon.
"The mall can get boring."
Leslie Fulbright: 206-515-5637 or lfulbright@seattletimes.com
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