Teen center could get city funds for new building

Program needs $1.2 million to begin construction in Railyard

The roof is coming down on Warehouse 21 today, and before a new one can replace it, the teen center will need at least $1.2 million more to augment the $1.8 million already donated to the cause.

For 10 years, Warehouse 21 has provided a place for young people to hang out, learn a skill or enjoy a peer-produced show. But with work on the Santa Fe Railyard picking up this summer and utility and infrastructure construction imminent, the program has moved from the multicolored, cinder-block building into a trailer on Paseo de Peralta for the time being. The building will be demolished at 3 p.m. today.

Plans have been approved for a replacement building, a 15,000-square-foot, two-story structure that would more than triple the program's previous space. But the sticking point has been money. Supporters of Warehouse 21 say they need a total of $3 million before construction can begin.

``We need ongoing support from the whole community,'' said Peter Chapman, who is working to raise funds for the new building. He notes that Warehouse 21 wants to raise as much as $3.5 million in total to pay for programs and the equipment that will be needed to fill the new building.

State lawmakers this year allocated $375,000 to Warehouse 21, less than what had been requested.

``I see what happens to youth when they don't have a place to go,'' said Tim Halford, a Warehouse 21 board member, a former probation officer and owner of Adobe Interlock, which installs ignition interlock devices. ``This is an investment in the youth of our city both now and 20 years from now.''

City Councilor Patti Bushee has sponsored a resolution that will earmark $1 million of capital-improvement bond funding toward constructing the new building, which will then be owned by the city and leased back to Warehouse 21. Chapman said Warehouse 21 will raise the other $200,000 needed for construction.

Bushee characterized a new home for Warehouse 21 as a piece of ``city infrastructure that we've been lagging behind on in serving our teen population.'' She thought future funding might be available for teen-related projects in other parts of town.

Mayor David Coss and Councilors Ronald Trujillo, Rebecca Wurzburger and Carmichael Dominguez have already signed on as co-sponsors to the resolution, which won the recommendation of the city Public Works Committee on Monday.
Bushee's resolution moves on to the city Finance Committee before going to the full City Council for a vote. Finance Committee Chairwoman Karen Heldmeyer said she has questions about the measure but wasn't opposed to the concept.

The council has not previously earmarked money for a single project through its capital-improvement bond funding, before discussing it in the context of a slate of proposals. But Bushee feels that the need to help Warehouse 21 is extraordinary and that the program needs assistance soon.

Talks on how to spend the full amount of capital-improvement bond funding -- estimated to be about $18 million -- is scheduled for June. Capital-improvement bonds are issued every few years to provide funding for brick-and-mortar projects.
Chapman requests people visit www.warehouse21.org to get more information on the fundraising campaign and said donations can be made online.

Contact Henry M. Lopez at 995-3815 or hlopez@sfnewmexican.com.