YOUTH CENTER FUNDED STATE GRANT OBTAINED.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Lancaster received $300,000 in a state grant to turn the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds' watch-and-wager satellite betting building into a youth center for the Antelope Valley Boys & Girls Club.

The 10,000-square-foot building - the fairgrounds' former gem and mineral building and an occasional site of church services - will be converted into a youth center when the fairgrounds relocates, which could occur as early as 2002.

``We will be able to serve a lot of kids and make a difference in their lives,'' said Jay Duke, president of the Antelope Valley Boys & Girls Club. ``We will be able to serve at least 100 children a day - and that's a conservative estimate.''

The city, the fair board and the Boys & Girls Club held a ceremonial check passing Monday. The event featured Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, who worked with state Sen. W.J. ``Pete'' Knight, R-Palmdale, to secure the funding in the state budget.

This will be the club's fifth site. One part of the building will be equipped with computers and set aside as an education area. The building will also contain games for youngsters to play, to keep them off the streets.

``This is a wonderful way to see our dollars invested,'' Runner said. The grant will be used as part of the financing package to build a new $18 million fairgrounds on a 135-acre site near Avenue G and the Antelope Valley Freeway. Purchased with proceeds from a hay auction in 1938, the existing 75-acre site at Avenue I and Division Street is deemed too small and is hemmed in by development.

Depending on the speed of construction, the first fair could be held at the new site as early as 2002 or as late as 2004.

The city will acquire the old fairgrounds. City plans call for the old fairgrounds to be turned into a housing development in a parklike setting.

Besides the old watch-and-wager facility, the city plans to keep Challenger Hall, a popular meeting spot for Antelope Valley organizations.

Plans for the new fairgrounds include a new watch-and-wager satellite betting facility, two main exhibit halls, a 10,000-square-foot show arena with an 85-foot-tall clock tower, livestock barns, and a grandstand capable of handling 7,000 people.

The fairgrounds master plan also includes an 85,000-square-foot covered horse arena that could be converted into an ice hockey rink. No funding is available at present for that $6.5 million project.