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Teen dance club could reopen at old bank site By DAVID PRESZLER Meeting Who : Jackson County Commissioners What : Special meeting to consider VIBES' request for $25,000 to reopen When : 9:10 a.m. Where : Jackson County Courthouse auditorium, 10 S. Oakdale Ave. An under-21 dance club that's been closed for nearly a year could reopen in downtown Medford as early as January. The effort to revive VIBES heads to the Jackson County Board of Commissioners this morning and the Medford City Council on Thursday in search of a combined $50,000 in funding. VIBES director Tom Cole plans to reopen the club in the building at Front and Main streets that formerly housed Wells Fargo and First Interstate banks. He said an informal agreement to lease the building has been reached. "We hopefully will have it up and running for the new millennium," said Cole. It would take an estimated $65,000 to remodel the building and get it open, Cole estimated. He has submitted requests for grants of $25,000 each to the county and to the city and hopes to raise the rest from area foundations. Once the start-up money is raised, Cole said the dance club would be self-supporting. Earlier incarnations of the dance club brought in more than enough money to cover costs, he said. VIBES, which stands for Vitality in Becoming Educated Socially, opened in May 1998 at Sweet Acres Country Barn. In October 1998, it closed and moved to the former Ernst Home Center building in the South Gateway shopping center. But it closed last December after its lease was terminated because of a 1992 center agreement that prohibits entertainment-based businesses. Since then, Cole has been searching for a new site. "We've explored a lot of facilities," Cole said. He said the downtown location is a good fit. It has its own parking lot that VIBES security workers could control and the building itself would allow for a wider variety of activities. The three-story building has about 11,000 square feet on the first floor that would be used for the dance area. The second floor would be used for office space and storage. The third floor could be leased out or used for other projects. Cole said he's exploring ideas, including a recording studio for teens and an Internet cafe. "We want to be as creative as possible with this," he said. He also plans to form partnerships with other youth programs so the building can be used for performing arts practices, youth conferences and the like. The idea, he said, is to make it a hub of youth activity all week long, "much more than a Friday and Saturday night dance." The dance club has been brought under the board of directors of Kids Unlimited, a nonprofit organization Cole heads that provides after-school programs and other services to young people. He said the downtown building would also house offices for Kids Unlimited and that revenues from the dance club will support that group's activities. The funding request was submitted to the county commissioners on Monday and will be discussed in a special meeting today. Jackson County provides more than $500,000 annually to nonprofit partners in the community, according to Hank Collins, head of the county's health and human services department. Collins sits on the Kids Unlimited board and made the request to the county commissioners on the group's behalf. He asked that the $25,000 come from the health and human services department's contingency fund, which isn't planned for any specific projects. Collins said quick action is needed to be sure VIBES can get the lease on the building. "We want to strike while the iron is hot," he says. Medford City Manager Michael Dyal said VIBES submitted a request for all $65,000 several weeks ago. He said he and Mayor Lindsay Berryman suggested the group seek a wider range of funding sources. The Medford City Council will hear Cole's presentation at its noon session Thursday. Dyal said there's been no indication of where the $25,000 the group is asking for would come from, although the council does have a $25,000 "opportunity fund" already in its budget that can be used at the council's discretion. Cole said he's optimistic the city and county will support the effort. "Everybody endorses the concept," he said. Collins said there's little question about the need for such a place, as demonstrated by the hundreds of teens the earlier versions of VIBES drew. "There was an overwhelming response from our youth," he said. "They need an alternative that is positive." Even after the long closure, Cole said interest remains high. "VIBES is still a very present term with teens," said Cole, who works with students regularly. "The kids have always asked, `When is VIBES coming back?"' He hopes to have an answer soon. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA