Area teen centers
The Attic Club
2852 Wilmington Pike
Kettering
(937) 297-9634
Friday and Saturday nights: 8 p.m.-midnight
Entrance fee: $8 (general admission), $10-$13 (premier show nights)
Ages: 14-19
The Avenue
6759 South County Road 25A
Tipp City
(937) 667-1069
Entrance fee: $5
Grades: Seventh-eighth
Haven Teen Center
3255 N. Dixie Drive
Dayton
(937) 825- 5425
Hours: Friday and Saturday from 9 p.m.-1 a.m.
Entrance fee: $5
Ages: 14-19
Jonathan Steele knows how to find a niche. One Sunday evening last summer, Steele was driving from Dayton to attend a teen night at Metropolis, a nightclub in Cincinnati. He came home with an idea — to start a teen club in Dayton.
“There was no real place for a teenager to hang out and play games around Dayton,” he said. Unlike most people his age, Jonathan had the means to address this issue. His father, Reggie, was already in the process of brainstorming ideas for a family business.
“At the time he was talking about a restaurant. I proposed this instead,” Jonathan said.
The proposal was for Haven Teen Center, which opened at 3255 N. Dixie Drive in November. The younger Steele said that getting the building prepared for that opening required more than just a quick snap of the fingers: “My whole summer was involved with this, and I wasn’t happy about that. I wanted to be with my friends.” Nevertheless, father and son worked together to clean and repair the building.
The center now hosts several events like the bi-monthly High School Teen Party featuring local hip-hop acts and a monthly music festival with rock bands. The shows are aimed at audiences between 14 and 19 years old.
There are no mosh pits and security professionals are present at all events. Performing or playing music with profanities is not permitted within the center. “When you play music with a lot of profanity, it actually does affect behavior, especially teenage boys,” Reggie Steele said.
Eventually, the family hopes that in addition to social activities, Haven will become a meeting place for community groups.
Heather Steele, Jonathan’s mother, often monitors the front door at Haven events and is adamant about the center becoming an uplifting place for all teens, but particularly those like her son: young, black males. “Not all teens are bad,” she said. “Teenagers can be out in the community doing something positive, for example, I want to have some go out and shovel driveways next winter. I think that’s important, especially when you talk about young African-Americans because people see them and automatically think about gangs.”
The Attic’s message
Jim Kilby knows all about the assumptions made about young people based on appearance. Kilby owns and operates The Attic, 2852 Wilmington Pike, perhaps the most well-known teen center in the area. “I had a woman come in here one night looking for her grandson, and she asked me what was up with all of the trash out front. I thought that she was referring to knocked over trash cans, so I stepped out and saw that the trash cans were still standing. All I saw was a group of guys, and then I realized, ‘Oh, you’re talking about people.’ ”
The former Air Force officer and father of 10 said that he is no longer surprised by such comments. The Attic’s typical crowd is permeated with body piercings and tattoos. He knows from first-hand experience that behind those rough exteriors is often a compelling story.
“My father left when I was 2, my mother married five times and I went to 15 different schools,” he said matter-of-factly. “I had my first son at 15 years old because I was totally unsupervised.”
Kilby, a retired Air Force officer, said that when he worked at the Pentagon during the 1990s, he carpooled with several Christian colleagues and that sparked his curiosity about religion.
Kilby soon joined a church and found what he considered to be his calling, “Immediately, I knew that I wanted to work with young people. I was a knucklehead, and I wanted to help kids like me.”
Kilby, an ordained minister, now books both Christian and non-Christian rock bands at The Attic. All bands must sign a contract that outlines behavioral and safety expectations. The audience must follow similar guidelines.
He and the other adult chaperones at The Attic adhere to core values, which include acceptance, creating positive relationships, service, honesty, evangelism and a commitment to Christ and sexual purity. Kilby is not as rigid with the teens, but he does try to let them know that he and other staff members are available for guidance.
“I’m not going to let somebody preach at them. They have to elect to hear that. I just want to tell them the truth and I know that I have to earn the right to do that,” Kilby said.
The Avenue
The Avenue is even more overt with its Christian message. The massive recreational center is just a parking lot’s distance from Ginghamsburg Church. The Avenue opened in 2000 and has evening activities on the second and fourth Friday each month for sixth- through eighth-graders. Admission is $5.
“We used to have Saturday nights for high school, but they seem to lose interest at that age,” said Ken Overholser, director of student ministry. “There are just too many things competing for their attention in terms of work and dating.”
Given the age group, The Avenue’s staff is able to keep amenities fairly simple. There is a basketball court, tables for pool and ping-pong, and foosball. There is also a coffee shop with a full coffee bar and clusters of round tables and cushioned seats well-suited for gaggles of teens and pre-teens. Overholser said, “It’s a place where students can sit down and chat for a while with their friends.”
The skate park is also a top destination within the center. Students must have a waiver signed by their parents before they are permitted to use it. Yet, the stage beside the skate park has remained dark for some time. Like the aforementioned centers, The Avenue also hosted musical performances, but those ceased with the onset of the current recession.
Overholser said, “The Christian music industry took quite a hit from the economy. There aren’t as many bands now that identify as Christian.”
But he does anticipate a return of musical performances. “I’ve asked a lot about concerts since I’ve been here. I think they’ll come back soon.”
In the meantime, he and the other staff members are content to cater to their students, who are still too young to spend their nights at places like Haven or The Attic. Overholser summed it up, “Our goal is to provide a safe place, but we’re not here just to baby sit. We want to build relationships.”
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