Forming a center for youths explored in Campbell

By Jeanne Starmack

The panel is considering the old Faith Temple Baptist Church building near city hall.

CAMPBELL — The committee members all agree: The city needs a youth center.

The question is: How does it go about opening one?

An exploratory panel made up of school, religious and government representatives met for the first time Wednesday at Campbell Elementary School to brainstorm.

“How do you want to move along?” Dr. Robert Walls, Campbell Elementary School principal, asked the group.

Walls, who was asked two weeks ago by the Campbell Ecumenical Council of Churches to form the committee, said there are several avenues to go down.

“But I think we’re all on the same page in that we have to do something for the kids in Campbell,” he said.

“They need to socialize after school,” said panel member Elois Herns, secretary of the council of churches. “They fight one another,” she continued. “They need to learn how to socialize.”

The panel said the city could use the old Faith Temple Baptist Church building on Roosevelt Boulevard near the municipal building, at least in the short term.

For the long term, members said, it would be nice to have a new building.

Some members cited Girard’s community center as an example of what Campbell’s could ultimately be like.

“In Girard, their center is multipurpose,” pointed out panel member Gerald Hamilton, program director of Neighborhood Ministries, a social-services agency.

Senior citizens use it during the day, he said, then kids use it when they get out of school.

Also included should be social-service offices, Walls said. They could help defray the costs for the center, he said.

Glynis Ann Herns, chaplain for the U.S. Army Reserve in Campbell, said she believes the Faith Temple building would be a great short-term solution — “if it’s conducive to what we need,” she said.

“It’s perfectly located, right by city hall,” she continued. “People might be more receptive to sending their kids to that area.”

Caliope Cunning, president of the Campbell Parent Teacher Organization, said church volunteers could help with remodeling the building, which is for sale by the church.

“We have mission groups that go out and volunteer their time, build orphanages,” she said. “So if we can get the same volunteers, we could give our kids a life here.”

Cunning will ask members of the PTO for their thoughts on a center.

Walls asked Campbell Mayor George Krinos, also a panel member, to check into any government grants that might be available.

Walls said after the meeting that it’s too early to know whether the city would buy the building or rent it if the panel decides it’s the right place for the center.

He said the building has 10 offices in it, plus a gym.

Members plan to tour the building Thursday next week.