Former Sheriff's Station to Become Youth Center; [Home Edition]

Los Angeles Times - Los Angeles, Calif.: Oct 1, 1996.

(Copyright, The Times Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times 1996 all Rights reserved)

For nearly four decades, it was one of the last places any youngster would want to spend time. It was "the Stone," the notorious Firestone sheriff's station, which closed in 1994. Now, sheriff's authorities are hoping local youths will be flocking there as "the Stone" is turned into a youth center.  Workmen have been turning the old station into the Century Sheriff's Youth Activity League, named after the new Century sheriff's station that replaced Firestone.  The center, expected to open next year, will offer classes in basic computer skills, karate and boxing. Administered by sheriff's deputies and volunteers, the center will have a library, community meeting room, and small playground. Located on Compton Avenue south of Manchester Boulevard, it will also act as a sheriff's mini-station, with a deputy on hand to take crime reports.  "This may sound overly simplistic, but we need to be able to compete with the gangs for recruiting young people" in southeastern L.A. County, Sheriff Sherman Block said. "There is not a lot available out there other than the gangs. We have to provide something."  Much of the funding for the conversion has come from a $500,000 grant from the Weingart Foundation. Members of the carpenters, plumbers and masons unions volunteered their services.