A teen center plan grows up

Adrean Howes , 18, glances at his notes, then writes in big red letters `` Gym," on a large piece of paper propped up by an easel. He quickly adds, ``full-sized."

His student partners look on as a list starts to unfold: dance studio, pool, bowling alley, a computer lab -- all potential components of what these Brookline students have temporarily dubbed the Brookline Teen Center Initiative.

For four weeks now, these current and former Brookline High School students have been piecing together a plan to design and launch a recreational hangout for teens. And while a heat wave washes across the nation, the energy behind this project is heating up , too.

Sitting at one end of the semicircle is a pivotal piece in this process: Paul Epstein , Theo's twin. Along with his wife, two high school workers, and a few volunteers, Epstein is leading a six-week summer program for a dozen student interns that marks the project's first round.

``This is not a Mickey Mouse operation here -- this is real," said Robert Sperber, a former Brookline superintendent of schools, who helped select the students.

For many of the students, asking for several dollars of allowance money is the extent of their fund-raising experience. Now they hope to raise several million dollars, and on Friday their efforts will culminate in a Fenway Park event for their donors.

``It's mind-blowing how much work goes into this," Epstein says after the teens meet with an architect about building design.

The endless catacombs of political and financial considerations they have been learning about are indeed daunting, the teens say, but they are convinced they will get this center built.

Karen Taborda, 14, the group's youngest member, will start at Brookline High in the fall, but she is already familiar with the cadre of teens milling about in front of the high school.

``They don't have anything to do after school," she said. The new facility, she hopes, will change that.

Ever since he arrived as a social worker at his alma mater, Brookline High School, six years ago, Epstein -- whom Theo has called the ``moral touchstone" of their family -- has thought about how to create an indoor teen hangout built with private donations. He and his wife, Saskia, have met with town officials and formed a committee to assess demand and support for such a place.

``Each successive year, the demand actually seemed to get greater," he said , and the couple came up with the idea of turning to students themselves not just for ideas but to help with the legwork. On a recent visit to the Jordan Boys and Girls Club in Chelsea, the relative of another leading Boston sports figure, Josh Kraft, Robert's son, talked dollars and sense with the teens, helping give them a picture of the realities of fund-raising.

The teens have split their work into three groups -- a needs assessment team that is holding focus groups, a public relations wing, and the fund-raising branch, made up of Taborda and three others. Within two weeks, the group raised $18,500 from Brookline residents -- one-fifth of their goal for the six-week program, which ends in mid-August.

After weeks of talking about it, the teens generally agree that the center should be in the northern part of the city, which is easier to reach by public transportation. They met last Monday with the architect Gary Graham of the Boston-based firm Graham/Meus Inc. to ask questions like, ``Is it cheaper to renovate or start from scratch?"

``This is impressive, what they are doing," said casually clad headmaster Robert Weintraub , who wanders into the group's operations from time to time.

But will enough students take interest in the facility to make it worth their efforts?

``Totally -- yeah," Weintraub said. ``We have a lot of kids who hang out after the bell rings. They need something to do."

Epstein says he is certain that he -- and Theo, both Brookline High alums -- would have been regular patrons of such a facility if it had existed. At times they grew tired of converting the long hallway that ran through their childhood home on Parkman Street into a makeshift baseball infield, basketball court, football field, hockey rink, boxing ring, and bowling alley, Epstein said. So they would head over to the West End House in Allston. But Brookline teens deserve a place they can call their own, Epstein says.

Town officials predict that the project will eventually make it through all the necessary hoops.

``Given the team they have put together, I think we can expect to see it come to fruition," said Robert Allen, chairman of the Board of Selectmen.