Work Begins on Youth Club’s $3.7-Million Expansion Project

WATTS — Stephen Weaver remembers that as a youth the Watts/Willowbrook Boys and Girls Club was his second home.

As an only child of a Japanese and African American family, Weaver, 46, grew up in the tough neighborhood of 123rd Street, just a few blocks away from the club. Both of his parents worked during the day, so he would spend part of his day after school in the club until his parents got home.

The club “gave me a structure and a place to go and learn from a positive atmosphere,” Weaver said Tuesday.

Weaver went on to become a successful attorney who has traveled around the world. But he never forgot his childhood club, where he now sits on the board of directors. He was there Tuesday when a groundbreaking ceremony took place for a $3.7-million extension, the first major renovation since the center opened in 1957.

The 27,500-square-foot extension will boast a larger gymnasium, a computer lab, an expanded arts and crafts center and a fitness center with a locker room. The expansion will enable the center to serve up to 4,000 children, from ages 7 to 17, each year, instead of the current 1,000, Weaver said.

Funded by a number of private companies, the new facility--at 1339 E. 120th St.--is scheduled to be completed by late 1999. It is to be named the S. Mark Taper Foundation Youth Center in recognition of the foundation, which donated $650,000 for expansion.

Roy Roberts, who began working as a counselor for the club 23 years ago and is now executive director, said the expansion will help the center reach more at-risk youths.

“A lot of kids from this neighborhood can get discouraged real early,” Roberts said. “For an area that has a lot of negative things that have taken place, this will be an oasis.”