Greybull Standard News

Developers of teen center purchase building
by nathan oster

After flirting with the cedar mall property and coming up short, the visionaries behind the effort to develop a regional, faith-based teen center in Greybull have completed negotiations to purchase the building at 51 N. Fifth St. that most recently was home to The Box. David Bottom, director of The Shack, announced the deal last week, calling it “a very significant step for us…but really just the first of several major steps that we will need to take to make it all a reality. “Clearly it’s something for us to celebrate, and something that the community, I hope, is going to celebrate with us.” While all parties have agreed to the selling price, the paperwork is in place and closing could come as early as this week, some work remains on the local level. For the deal to be completed, The Shack will need to raise nearly $30,000 by Dec. 1. Bottom said he is pursuing grant money that would reduce the amount he and his group would have to generate. The initial fundraising push during the lead up to an auction for the cedar mall property was successful, he said. But since then, “We’ve been in a holding pattern,” he said. “What we’re encouraged about is that we now have a building, where before we didn’t.” Bottom is optimistic that he’ll be able to generate the necessary funds. So is Barbara Anne Green, who will lead the fundraising campaign and also serves as the director of Big Horn County Economic Development, Inc. “We have been blessed by donations from local families and businesses, and they believed even before we had a building in hand. Talk about faith,” said Greene. “Understandably some organizations and individuals wanted to wait until we had a tangible building. With the agreement in place … we have it.” Greene said that while the initial $30,000 needed to complete the purchase will be the primary focus initially, the group envisions two more fundraisers once the deal is in place. The first fundraising goal will be to raise $78,000 for remodeling and updating. The second will be to raise $160,000 for equipment and supplies. “From an economic development standpoint,” said Greene, “a center such as The Shack is a huge plus to businesses wanting to relocate to this area. With business come families, and often questions about youth and public services … come up in the inquiries. They are part of the quality-of-life issue.” Significant step Because The Shack has yet to officially become a nonprofit, the Greybull Alliance Church will be making the purchase on its behalf. Bottom said The Shack should have its nonprofit status by the end of the year, at which time ownership would be transferred to it from the church. As for the building, Bottom still believes that the cedar mall, with its size and location, would have been the ideal location for the center. “It offered the most flexibility, because we always wanted the center to be in the downtown corridor, which it was,” he said. “We wanted it to be a place where kids could walk or bike, so when the cedar mall fell through, The Box became the natural second choice.” Because it is smaller, the building “will primary be for general recreation,” with no office space or dedicated space for a meeting room, said Bottom. “As we grow as an organization, at some point, we may look to expand … but not initially.” Bottom’s vision is for the building to feature an indoor skateboard park, a concert venue that is wired up to the point that bands could just “plug in and play” and the old favorites like pool, foosball, air hockey and ping pong, among others. There would also be an area for food service. The core target audience will be middle- and high-school aged children, but Bottom said the size of the building will also The Shack to more effectively offer programming to students of elementary school age (K-5) and the “young and fun” 19- to 30-year-old age bracket. With the youngsters, “the idea would be for families to be there together,” and not for parents to drop their elementary-aged children there. When asked when the building might open, Bottom said it’s going to depend on how quickly fire suppression can be installed. “I’d say late spring or early summer of 2009, but a lot of that will depend on fundraising and whether we’re able to get workers in to do the updating and get the building up to code,” he said. While the new building will be open to anyone, Bottom said he and his board envision it as “a faith-based community center” because faith is the foundation upon which the center will be developed. “We believe the spiritual aspect is an important part of everyone’s life,” he said. “Kids don’t have to go to a certain church, or any church, to come. But if there’s an interest, it’s going to be offered. It will be engrained within certain parts of the programming, but it won’t be up front and in your face, like saying to people who walk in, ‘Here’s a Bible; now go play.’ “It’s one of the options The Shack will offer. We feel it’s a very important option, but not one you have to part of in any way to come in and shoot pool or go to a concert.” Bottom said fundraising will be the key in the short term, noting that groups and businesses have expressed a willingness in the past to be supportive of projects of this kind. “It’s my feeling and belief that people will respond,” he said. “We have a deadline and a dollar amount, and we can say ‘Here’s the building.’ I believe there’s a lot of support for that building and location. I have a high degree of confidence that the need for such a facility exists here.”

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