Efforts to build a recreation center to serve lower Kenai Peninsula youth are underway, currently being spearheaded by the Anchor Point Community and Senior Center.
APSCI has dedicated a plot of land, adjacent to the senior center located at 72750 Milo Fritz Ave., for the future construction of an 80-by-150-foot recreation center at no cost to the community. This decision was confirmed by the board of directors in late spring.
APSCI Director Cynthia Burns called the drive for a youth center a “community-driven project.” Local contractors, including Paul’s Services, Axtel Enterprises, and Wolf Co, donated their time and labor to clear the property earlier this month. Tree clearing was also overseen by VFW Post 10221 Cmdr. Chuck Collins, Burns said.
APSCI is currently focusing their efforts on fundraising through grants and donations from local individuals and businesses. A GoFundMe page is also forthcoming in order to help cast a wider net of support. Donated funds are deposited into an account specifically dedicated to the youth center.
“Anchor Point has forever needed a youth activity center, and over the past two years it’s been realized through community meetings that it’s becoming more of a necessity,” Burns said. “We have a lot of things staged, and now we’re just putting it together. In an ideal world, this could come together really fast.”
According to Burns, serious discussion on the construction of a local youth center began last year and has since received great support from the community.
“It’s really exciting, and any parent in Anchor Point is like, ‘Yes please, how do I help?’” she said.
In their October newsletter, APSCI discussed the continued issues that parents and youth in the Anchor Point area experience with the lack of a dedicated space for activities and sporting events and consequently being required to travel to Homer, Ninilchik or Kenai for such events.
“That’s been the story forever, driving hundreds of miles a year to go other places for (Anchor Point) kids to play sports,” Burns said. “So what we want to do is open it to the lower peninsula — in essence, it’s going to be geared towards a lower peninsula youth activity center.”
The future center would also “finally” give the Anchor Kings Wrestling Club a permanent home.
“The Anchor Kings are constantly looking for space in all the different schools, just to try and keep kids in their local areas so that they’re capable of participating in club wrestling,” Burns said. “Having a localized gym that they can schedule things out of would be ideal.”
Burns attributed APSCI’s spearheading of the project to the fact that the senior center had land available and local seniors who wanted to provide something for area youth.
“We have seniors that grew up here and wish that they had had an activity center when they were a kid. We’re talking a 70-year gap here,” she said. “I think it’ll be great for everybody. People from Ninilchik to Homer are interested in seeing this happen, whether for themselves or for Anchor Point, knowing the needs here.
“It’s really about the community — we need the support of the community.”
