Facebook post prompts premature reveal of potential plans for Teen Outback/Memorial Gym upgrades
A recent post on Facebook led many to believe the Teen Outback, a 27-year-old youth center in Huntingburg, faces an uncertain future.
Ralph Begle, a Teen Outback board member and operations officer, who has been involved with the organization since its inception, said the organization was working to replace the building’s roof this year.
At the group’s annual trivia night fundraiser in January, it was announced that they had reached the $50,000 goal to pay for the repairs. Trivia Night is Teen Outback’s major funding source, and, according to Begle, those funds also allow children to attend events held at Teen Outback for free.
To supplement the amount raised for the roof, the organization decided to apply for a grant. During the grant process, they were told they needed written approval from the Southwest Dubois County School Corporation. They own the building and lease it to the City of Huntingburg on a ten-year lease, which in turn, sublets it to Teen Outback. The current lease expires in 2028.
According to Begle, they received unexpected news when contacting the school corporation.
“In the process of doing that, we were informed that at some point, not soon, but down the road at some point, they were considering maybe taking down the Teen Outback and making more of an access to Memorial Gym and they need more parking space,” Begle explained. “That pretty much put me in shock at that point. Having been a part of this for 27 years, I could hardly believe what I was hearing.”
In response, a Facebook post outlining the issue was shared with several media organizations, prompting outrage and questions about the future of the Teen Outback and the building. That post is at the bottom of this article.
Begle said they wanted the public to understand the issue that the Teen Outback could be facing.
The school corporation responded this evening.
First, we would like to thank everyone who has chosen to take the appropriate steps to reach out directly to the school and to Board Members with your concerns. Because we represent you, we appreciate you taking the time and doing it right.
Unfortunately, there appears to be many that have chosen other platforms to share their anger/frustration regarding what they have heard about this situation with the Teen Outback.
Furthermore, many of the concerns appear to be based on limited or false information. So, in an effort to share the facts as they are today and dispel many rumors, we have prepared this statement.
On May 1st, a meeting took place between a School Board member and a representative from the Teen Outback. This was directly related to a request from the TO for the school system to support the replacement of the existing roof.
“As a school board, we receive and review numerous proposals every year. Some are pursued, some are not; but every one of them, if pursued, goes through a standard process that includes full and complete community transparency. Unfortunately, in an effort to be transparent with why we couldn’t in good faith support asking the Dubois County Community Foundation to spend more dollars on the Teen Outback, we shared this “idea”, not thinking that only selected parts of it would be shared with the public. The attached “idea” is a plan to celebrate the rich history of Memorial Gym and create a true centerpiece to our town.
The board also issued a statement regarding the information shared online.
Some “rumors” that are being shared with us directly and indirectly include:
- There is an active plan to demolish the Teen Outback. This is FALSE. There is a very high-level idea to do massive improvements to this entire property, but they are nothing more than an idea.
- Plans to demolish were being held from the Teen Outback/Community. This is FALSE. Since this is nothing more than a concept, there isn’t anything to share at this point. There is a standard process that is followed for any capital project, and we are following the process. The first “concept drawing” has simply been completed (attached). This drawing is so new, it hasn’t even been reviewed by the Board as of this date. Again, this is simply an idea.
- The School Board wants to do away with a positive space for the youth of Dubois County to come together. This is also FALSE. Quite to the contrary. If you look at the plans attached, the idea would be to have a completely new space called a “Community Room” to be used for all youth and community groups in our school corporation including the Teen Outback group. In addition, for larger events, we are enhancing our other facilities at the schools to provide space. So, if we were to pursue an idea similar to what is on paper, the youth would have expanded spaces, with better overall facilities which will allow for even more programming, not less.
- This is all about more parking. FALSE. Yes, would this improve the parking, absolutely. But that is nothing more than a secondary benefit. Since many of the board members are parents who have chaperoned events, and had multiple children attend events at the TO, the existing parking, but more importantly pick up and drop off of children is far from ideal and dangerous in many ways. A new set up would enhance flow, lighting, safety and security for all involved.
- They just want to tear down the TO because they think it’s an eyesore. FALSE. All members of this Board have fond memories of the TO. All of us attended school there, went to dances and events there and have had our children at many events there. It holds a special place in our hearts as well. In saying this, we were elected to be good stewards of our community. We understand that people can be passionate about these things, but it doesn’t take away our fiduciary responsibility. We have to weigh the logic and benefits of continuing to invest in an older building that requires ongoing maintenance or invest in a new facility that can better serve the youth of our community.
If a new building is pursued, it would solve several problems that currently exist.
- Will provide for handicap access to all levels of the gym.
- Upgrades the concessions, locker rooms, and bathrooms.
- Creates one primary entry point.
- Will provide much needed air conditioning to the facility
- Will improve parking and egress, not only for fans but as importantly for emergency service
vehicles and buses.- Will provide a space to celebrate the rich history and achievements of Huntingburg/Southridge
athletics.- AND, create a more appropriate and updated space for our youth to replace the Teen Outback
We’ve hesitated to make this public before now because we haven’t decided if it’s something we want to pursue. This concept was proposed to the board by two Southridge Alumni. As with any situation, financing a project like this will require a public/private partnership that will include the need for substantial contributions from a fundraising campaign that we have not been able to develop in the early stages of these plans. It is a fact that the school corporation is not in a position to fund this type of endeavor because of our need to renovate and build classrooms for the increased number of students in our community.
However, these two Southridge alumni have agreed to spearhead a fundraising campaign once an agreed upon project is developed. At this time, these two alumni wish to remain anonymous. So if this project becomes something that we want to move to the next step, we would begin the fact-finding process which includes full disclosure to the public.
Unfortunately, in today’s world, information moves faster than facts. We understand that many people are upset based on what they were told, but they were only given a small fraction of the information, and much of that was incomplete or inaccurate. There is no plan to do away with a space for our youth. There is a plan that may include demolition of the Teen Outback, but what wasn’t shared was what would be in its place.
We apologize for information to be shared in this manner. At this time, there isn’t any additional information we can provide, because there simply isn’t any additional information.
Respectfully Submitted,
The Southwest Dubois County School Board of Trustees
