A three-year-old dream to open a centre for youth

culture is on the verge of coming true.

At long last the hopes of the Urban Zoo project are likely to become a reality.

The Zoo will provide a place for young people to go to enjoy their hobbies - such as skateboarding and in-line skating - and to learn and practice graffiti painting skills and DJ-ing - activities which when carried out in public places often annoy shopkeepers, local residents and the police.

Board members of Keighley's SRB partnership have kept faith in the project while it struggled for around two years to find suitable premises for the scheme.

Now it has found premises which when refurbished will provide a safe and legal environment for youth activities.

It will offer a host of other activities and training courses as part of its mission to break down territorial and social barriers between young people aged from 10 upwards.

Even more important is that the centre would be run by a committee of young people and youth workers.

It is an expensive and an ambitious programme - but it is following in the wake of other pioneering and world-beating schemes which have put Keighley on the map.

It won't solve all of the issues affecting young people and their needs, but it will provide a welcome boost to all the other projects and groups who are fighting so hard to rescue generations of young people from crime and the evil of drugs, or to keep them free from such temptations.

More than that it will send out a message to young

people that the area believes in them, respects their needs and is prepared to give them the once in a lifetime opportunity to take control of their lives. Let's hope the doors open sooner rather than later.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.