The Executive Director of the Centralia Community Youth Center Herb Williams says an 80 by 100 foot addition is planned with a $249,000 state grant.
Williams says the additional space will transform the facility into a community center that can serve the entire Centralia region.
“We don’t have a lot of room to do the tutoring we would like to do so we would like to add some classroom, conference rooms and on the end of our new section have an area dedicated to our food giveaway program. We are looking at a number of different alternatives. To get the maximum youth out of the building, get rid of some of the crowded situations that we have. We are excited about it.”
Williams notes the additional room will allow for improvement to the current after school tutoring program which is now conducted in the gym, which isn’t the best environment. He also sees a lot of purposes for the conference room.
Williams says there are still things to be worked out. He says the state will require a long-term lease for operation of the community center. No lease agreement is currently in place. Williams says the money cannot be used for needed repairs to the existing building which he reports will remain the responsibility of the city.
The Centralia Community Youth Center was one of 70 human services providers throughout the state to receive a grant during this round of funding.
