FUNDING WILL PROVIDE CENTER FOR TEENS.Byline: Nicholas Grudin Staff Writer GLENDALE - A badly needed teen center and mini-park will be created in south Glendale with nearly $3 million in state funds, officials announced Wednesday. The grants will fund a 7,000-square-foot teen center with gymnasium gymnasium In Germany, a state-maintained secondary school that prepares pupils for higher academic education. This type of nine-year school originated in Strasbourg in 1537. , computer lab, playground and a library at 744 S. Glendale Blvd., as well as build Windsor Mini-Park just down the street. ``This will transform the whole neighborhood and impact thousands of kids who will be able to come to the new facility,'' said Maria Rochart, founding director of New Horizons Family Center. ``I'm in shock - and ecstatic ec·stat·ic adj. 1. Marked by or expressing ecstasy. 2. Being in a state of ecstasy; joyful or enraptured. [French extatique, from Greek ekstatikos, from .'' New Horizons was awarded $2.3 million to buy a building and remodel re·mod·el tr.v. re·mod·eled also re·mod·elled, re·mod·el·ing also re·mod·el·ling, re·mod·els also re·mod·els To make over in structure or style; reconstruct. it as a teen center as part of California's Murray-Haden Parks and Youth Service Grant Program. The program awarded $500,000 to the city of Glendale to build the mini-park. Statewide, $42 million was awarded to 44 projects, making Glendale's one of the more substantial grants awarded, said Byron Tucker, a spokesman for Gov. Gray Davis. ``The criteria was that there was a lack of parks and a chronic shortage of youth activities,'' Tucker said. Rochart and Glendale officials said south Glendale is especially needy need·y adj. need·i·er, need·i·est 1. Being in need; impoverished. See Synonyms at poor. 2. Wanting or needing affection, attention, or reassurance, especially to an excessive degree. , with an immigrant population of about 55,000 living mainly in apartments and duplexes. The area now has only four parks - 10 acres total or about 8 square feet per person - and one youth center - New Horizon's current 3,000-square-foot facility at 714 S. Glendale Ave., said Don Zabinski, an analyst for the Glendale Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services. The new youth center also will offer counselors who speak Armenian, Spanish and English. The new park will serve about 7,200 people living within a quarter-mile radius. Families who live in the area were pleased by the news. Yolanda Ochoa, a single mother who lives in south Glendale and works as a secretary for New Horizons, said her 8-year-old son needs a place to go after school. ``It makes me feel secure knowing that he's going to have a safe place to come when I go to work,'' Ochoa said. State Assemblyman as·sem·bly·man n. A man who is a member of a legislative assembly. assemblyman Noun pl -men a member of a legislative assembly Noun 1. Dario Frommer Dario Frommer (born October 22, 1963 in Long Beach, California) was a member of the California State Assembly from 2000 until 2006. He served as Majority Leader from 2004 until 2006. Frommer also served as Chair of the Health Committee. helped win the grants. ``I'm elated e·lat·ed adj. Exultantly proud and joyful. e·lat  ed·ly adv.e·lat ,'' Frommer said. ``This is a dream that we've had for south Glendale for a long time.'' The planned teen center will go where the Democratic Party's district office currently stands. The purchase of the building will cost New Horizon about $1.4 million, and the remodeling remodeling /re·mod·el·ing/ (re-mod´el-ing) reorganization or renovation of an old structure. bone remodeling will account for the rest of the grant. |
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