Published: February 13, 2008 05:52 am    Eagle Tribune

METHUEN: Residents celebrate opening of new community center

By Stephanie Chelf
Staff writer

METHUEN — In 1992, no one wanted to be on Tenney Street. Residents were moving to get away from drugs, crime and prostitutes.

But yesterday, Tenney Street was the place to be seen.

What has been a 16-year transformation of the city's poorest neighborhood culminated with the grand opening of the Lena Lahey Community Center at 141 Tenney St.

Dozens of residents, volunteers and community leaders packed the two-story building during an open house.

Linda Soucy, the heart and soul of the Methuen Arlington Neighborhood group that led the grass-roots effort to reclaim their home from crime, beamed as she worked the room, greeting guests and thanking everyone who supported the effort over the years.

"This is a very special day for the neighborhood," Soucy said. "This has been a long time coming."

The center will host an after-school homework center and replace the existing center at 1 Broadway, which was in a cramped, dreary brick building with no windows.

A nonprofit nutrition program for pregnant women and families will operate out of the first floor. Methuen Arlington Neighborhood Inc. will operate youth and family programs on the second floor, and eventually, will have additional program space on the third floor.

The center includes a main area with 15 new computers and desks and a separate library for quiet study. There is an office for MAN Inc.'s staff and handicapped-accessible bathrooms. It's also adjacent to the Tenney Street park where MAN Inc. holds its summer programs.

"(In 1992) no one is this room would venture down here," said Rick Dewhirst, MAN Inc. president. "People didn't want to be here. There was a small group that said that was enough. From our humble beginnings we are standing here today in a culmination of how far we've come and we have not finished this journey yet."

The center, built with a $541,000 development grant, will allow MAN Inc. to expand its popular homework center and allow more children to attend keeping them off the streets and in a safe environment.

State and local leaders and many of the volunteers who donated time and materials to construct the building attended the open house. The event was so crowded, many people waited outside on the ramp to get in.

Rep. Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, who holds a top leadership position at the Statehouse, said he was "more impressed" by the center than he expected.

"Everyone seems invested in this place and the pride and excitement they have in this building is so impressive," said DeLeo, who was brought to Methuen by state Rep. Linda Dean Campbell.

Campbell said she hopes the state uses the Arlington neighborhood successes as a model for other communities.

"We have more than just a building here," said Mayor William Manzi. "This center epitomizes the great revitalization of the entire neighborhood."

MAN Inc. board member Scot Foster and his family have been involved in the neighborhood group for years. His two daughters, ages 13 and 14, attended the homework center as elementary-school children and now they both work as mentors to younger children.

"With two working parents, the help (they received) after school made all the difference in their work," Foster said. "They benefited for a long time and can now give back. It reiterates the strong community bond and I hope the younger kids see that."

Foster hopes his younger children — a 2-year-old and a baby on the way — will benefit from the services at the new community center.

The center is named for the late Lena Lahey, a longtime Arlington neighborhood resident and mother of Paula Moore and City Councilor Phil Lahey, both of whom attended yesterday's ceremonies.

Others attending included acting police Chief Katherine Lavigne and several police officers, fire Chief Cliff Gallant, Community and Economic Development Director Karen Sawyer, former Mayor Dennis DiZoglio, and state Rep. Barbara L'Italien. Methuen city councilors Lahey, Larry Giordano, Joseph Leone, Deborah Quinn, Stephen Zanni, and Jennifer Kannan also attended.