Brookline Teen Center location approved by Zoning Board

Brookline — Organizers of a proposed Brookline Teen Center got the go-ahead to build on the site of a former garage in Brookline Village, but say money needs to keep rolling in to make the facility a reality.

In a Zoning Board meeting Thursday, June 16, the Brookline Teen Center’s new location at 40 Aspinwall Ave. was approved unanimously by the three-person board. Brookline High School social worker Paul Epstein said that this decision would be beneficial to the students of Brookline.

“Now they won’t be able to say the common Brookline comment of ‘We have nowhere to go,’” he said. “It can combat some negative trends going on.”

Epstein started planning the center in 2006, employing a paid staff and student interns to aid in the brainstorming process. In the following years, they raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, which would go to the construction of the site.

In December 2010, the BTC staff leased an automobile garage, which they planned to transform into the center.

Mike Lindstrom, the architect for the BTC, said the new two-story building would include an academic space, a game room, a music studio, an art space, a half court basketball arena, a fitness center, a bowling alley, a dance studio and a café.

“It will be a place kids will want to go,” Lindstrom said.

Epstein said that although this zoning approval was a big step in making the BTC a reality, there was still a lot of work ahead of them.

“Opening the door is just one major hurdle,” he said. “Now we need to keep it open.”

Epstein estimated that the building would cost $3.3 million to construct and approximately $500,000 per year to operate. Epstein said that if fundraising goes as expected, construction could start in the fall, and the center could potentially open by next summer.

A few Aspinwall Avenue residents were concerned about the traffic that the BTC would bring to the already busy cross street, which connects Harvard and St. Paul streets.

Barbara Benagh, who spoke to the Zoning Board, said that while she wasn’t against the BTC, she was worried about what it would bring to the residential area.

“I’m especially concerned about these very late-night events,” she said. “We’re gonna have rush hour traffic at 1 a.m.”

Benagh said that the BTC staff has been working very closely with the Aspinwall neighbors, and so she is confident an agreement will be worked out.

“I really appreciate the process,” she said. “They’re really listening to the community and took our concerns very seriously.”
Evan Koslof
6/20/11

Originally Posted: http://www.wickedlocal.com/brookline/news/x898075944/Brookline-Teen-Center-location-approved-by-Zoning-Board#axzz1QE4gBStB