REVERE — Mayor Brian Arrigo announced on Monday that a Teen Center will open next month in the newly renovated basement of the Youth Center building on Beach Street, which is meant to provide a safe space for kids to have fun after school.
The Teen Center will be opened at the 150 Beach St. building on Monday, Dec. 18 by the Revere Parks & Recreation Department, in conjunction with the mayor’s office.
The department will be opening the Teen Center this week before winter vacation to test the space and its procedures, which is meant to allow an opportunity for city officials to make any necessary adjustments for when the kids return to school in January.
“For decades, the basement of the Youth Center was the place to be for Revere youth,” reads an announcement from the mayor’s office and recreation department. “From concerts to ceramics to boxing classes, the Youth Center basement was a destination for young residents for an entire generation. The goal of this initiative is to reestablish the Youth Center as a place for kids to drop in, be safe and have fun after school.”
Arrigo said in a Facebook post that “this safe space for kids will be monitored by department staff and will feature a lounge area for homework, a classic arcade machine, a ping pong table, TVs, video game systems and various other game tables.”
The teen center will be open four days a week to start. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, from 2:30 to 7 p.m., there will be free, open hours for all middle and high school students with Revere student IDs. On Thursday nights, the department’s free video game club for fifth to ninth grade students will be held at the space, officials said.
Officials said teen-focused programming will be available nearly every weeknight throughout the school year once the center opens. Besides open hours and the video game club, recreational basketball will be held on Monday and Wednesday nights, open gym night will be held on the first Friday of each month and on the second Friday of the month, kids’ night out will be featured.