By Ben Antonius | Daily Republic | November 05, 2008 21:23
FAIRFIELD - Within moments of the doors opening, the thudding sound of bouncing basketballs filled the new Matt Garcia Youth Center.
A crowd of hundreds spent Wednesday afternoon under cloudy skies for the grand opening of the center, which will have its first normal day of operation on Friday.
'It's a bittersweet day for us,' said Teresa Courtemanche, mother of Garcia, a Fairfield City Councilman who was slain in September. 'Matt's not here in body but I know he's here in spirit.'
The afternoon program consisted of several speakers and was followed by an open house at the center, program sign-ups, boxing demonstrations and the first chance for kids to shoot hoops on the basketball court.
The center is located at 250 Travis Blvd., next to Grocery Outlet, near the intersection with North Texas Street. Named the Matt Garcia Youth Center, it is operated by the non-profit Police Activities League.
The building itself is dominated by the large basketball court, where children played with members of the Solano Community College basketball team on Wednesday. The center also has four homework rooms with computers, an arts and crafts room, and an entry area with a large boxing ring.
Membership is available to students in grades 7-12. Membership for the year costs $10 per student, and a valid school identification card is required. It will be open from 2:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday and 2:30 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Several speakers discussed the three year-plus process that led to the facility's construction.
A teen center had been proposed early in the decade by former Councilman John English but was never built. After the 2005 election, Councilmen John Mraz and Frank Kardos made the issue a top priority, one shared by Garcia and Councilman Chuck Timm after their 2007 election.
However, only Mraz and Timm were around for the grand opening -- Garcia and Kardos both died in September.
'Frank was my partner in trying to get this open and I really wish he were here today,' Mraz said.
The final speaker was Douglas Spletter, president of the Police Activities League board of directors. He introduced each colleague on the board, a varied group that includes police officers, city commissioners and the family of late developer and philanthropist Billy Yarbrough, for whom the building was originally named.
'This board created a foundation that we can build on,' Spletter said, addressing the crowd. 'The rest is up to you.'
Reach Ben Antonius at 427-6977 or bantonius@dailyrepublic.net.
