Dream of Masontown community center still alive and well
MASONTOWN – Two months ago, Barbara Lewis, director for the Power Plant Youth Center, requested help from the Masontown Borough Council in obtaining the Masontown Elementary school from the Albert Gallatin School District. Lewis told the board that she wanted the building to create a new community center for the entire area and for all age groups.
At a meeting held by the Power Plant Youth advisory board Thursday, Lewis said the borough council members are still negotiating with the school district about the proposed site for the new center.
While talks about the proposed site continue, she said she wanted to ask community members for their ideas about the proposed center and for their support to help make it a reality.
“We are still waiting for communications between the borough council and the school board. …They want more information, and we are trying to compile the information that they want,” Lewis said, adding that the community should start to support the center, to help it get off the ground.
“We need full community support. I will not go one step further without the community’s support,” she said. “When we work together, anything can happen.”
The youth center, formed one year ago, is a group that meets each week to allow children in the area time to relax, play and encourage each other. Lewis said that on any given night, the center has up to 60 children in attendance, and rarely are there fewer than 20.
The idea for a community center arose from the enthusiasm Lewis received for the youth center.
John Jorgenson, a member of the center’s advisory board, said a new community center could become a reality if people get involved.
“We are really committed to our town, because our home is here and our life is here,” he said. “A community center can be a real cohesive place for all ages.”
Jorgenson said the board had come up with some goals for the proposed center, but they are simply ideas. He said that the center could serve as an area for sporting activities, dances, concerts, and workshops and also provide a computer learning center. He also said that a new center could house an after-school program to help get area youths involved in activities.
Albert Gallatin school board member Edward Colebank agreed with Jorgenson’s vision.
“We need something for the youth,” he told the concerned citizens.
“Our children are missing activities. The seeds we plant in our youth today will flourish in the future.”
Colebank said the key to establishing a new center is community involvement.
“This is a community project. The question is how do we get the people involved that need to be involved?”
Other residents agreed that the community is lacking, and a center could help improve the area.
“We’ve lost a dream. We have lost pride in the community,” said the Rev. Curt Nies of the Brethren Church. “If we can rally around a community center, we can get that dream back.”
While Lewis and Jorgenson had hoped for a bigger turnout, they were optimistic that the 22 people that did attend the meeting would help to spread the word.
“This is a seed group,” Lewis said. “They can go from here and start talking.”
The meeting adjourned with Jorgenson agreeing to deliver individual flyers explaining the proposed center to everyone in the community and with Lewis agreeing to invite organizers of other successful community centers in the area to the next meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. Dec. 5 at the Masontown Fire Hall. Anyone interested in voicing an opinion about the center was asked to attend another meeting to discuss initial ideas Saturday at 10 a.m. in the fire hall.
Masontown Borough Councilman Harry Lee said he attended so that he could report back to council about the group’s efforts.
“I am interested to see that this will go, because I don’t want to see that school building up there just fall down. We need to do something with it,” Lee said.