When reporter Adam Stewart was given the assignment of talking with local teens, we didn’t know what their responses would be.

What is interesting about the story, which quoted two teens saying they probably wouldn’t hang out in a proposed new youth center, is that everyone quoted, including the two teens, said they thought the center was a good idea.

It’s not that they opposed the center. They just thought it would better serve younger teens still in middle school or high school.

We wholeheartedly support the idea of having a place for teens to hangout. Particularly the idea of having a center where younger teens can find age-appropriate activities instead of being lumped together with older teens who have different interests.

I remember being a teen in Ottawa. One of the primary purposes of life was to drag Main Street — to see who was out and to be seen by those who were out.

Ottawa had a youth center, bowling alley, skating rink, movie theater, and other options for teens, but the primary activity of choice still was riding around.

That hasn’t changed much since the 1970s. Teens still want to see who’s out and be seen by others.

However, there are some teens, and probably more pre-teens, who will benefit from a youth center and the activities it can offer.

There is no doubt that Amy Kjellin and other volunteers involved in purchasing a downtown building for use as a teen center are doing it for the right reasons.

That’s not to say there still aren’t questions: Who is going to operate it? How will it sustain itself?

Experience indicates that communities often support youth centers for a few months, interest wanes and the projects go by the wayside.

This is a new era, and different people are trying to make it happen. Perhaps it will work.

We hope it does.

When our story came out last week, some people immediately condemned it — even before reading it — as being controversial or negative.

The youth center is a positive idea. Raising questions about it is neither negative nor controversial. It just means we care enough to anticipate challenges and hopefully be part of the solution by helping identify problems.

— susan berg