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Teens ask Saratoga City Council to improve Warner Hutton House
By Oakley Brooks
Over the last few years, Saratoga Youth Commission's plan to renovate the attic of its teen center at the Warner Hutton House has lain dormant, gathering cobwebs as an old picture stowed in, well, the attic. But now the scheme is being dusted off and brought back to the city's attention.
At its annual meeting with the city council recently, the commission asked for the council's help in funding the conversion of the attic to a study space--a project estimated to cost between $150,000-200,000.
"Will you support the project?" Youth Commissioner James Ballingall, 14, flatly asked the council.
Councilwoman Ann Waltonsmith, who is the council's liaison to the youth commission and recently had visited the Warner Hutton House attic, said she's interested in endorsing the project. Other council members present at the joint meeting--Stan Bogosian and Evan Baker--tempered their support
They were concerned about the problem that has previously stalled the project: funding.
The commission had been optimistic that the attic idea would come to fruition in 1997, when local parents help launch a new fundraising foundation--Friends of Warner Hutton House. But Recreation Director Joan Pisani says that turnover on the commission led to turnover of parents on the Friends board, and the fundraising has fallen off. Currently, the foundation has $25,000 in its account.
In order to get the 1,000-square-foot expansion project back on track, Pisani and teen coordinator Lauren Merriman are working with the commission to solicit grant money from the Saratoga Rotary Club and possibly the Packard Foundation. Waltonsmith recently proposed that the city match any funds the commission raises.
Pisani reiterated on May 8 that she will ask the attic project to be included in city's capital improvement initiative that will be finalized this summer. Much of the cost in renovating the space lies in adding a required second stairwell to the building. The room itself would have a large wooden table and several study carrels and reading nooks.
Teens maintain that the project is important as the number of students wanting to study at the Warner Hutton House constantly grows.
"We're a victim of our own success," said Ballingall of the afternoon hangout.
He added that students are already retreating to Warner Hutton because of overcrowding at Saratoga Community Library. The temporary downsizing of the library during its expansion will further impact studying space.
Find out more about the youth commission at the commission's growing website: www.saratogateen.com.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
