ARLINGTON – If you’re looking for the next hot spot in Arlington, direct teenagers who say there’s nothing to do drop by the Arlington Boys and Girls Club when the doors open to the new Teen Center next week.

The club and Arlington Youth Council are hosting a grand opening from 6:30-8 p.m. on Friday, May 19 at the club, 18513 59th Ave. NE. Food will be provided. Visitors who bring a can of food will receive a one-year club membership.

The teen center opening isn’t the only celebration happening at the club.

It will be followed the next day by the Stilly 2000 Youth Project ribbon cutting and dedication at 11 a.m. The public is invited.

The club is sporting new full-sized and a half-sized gyms that combined with the teen center expanded the club by about 13,000 square feet, club director Bill Kinney said. Two newly improved artificial turf ballfields are also part of a $3.8 million state package to expand activities for Stilly Valley youth after the Oso mudslide, combined with fundraising by the club.

The new teen center is wired for fun. Features include a large multimedia projection screen and movie system; big screen TVs; a half dozen desktop stations providing graphic art and music recording programs and more; a DJ digital mixing station; overhead dance floor DJ lighting; an electric guitar; pool table; Rocker game and beanbag chairs; art deco wall hangings; wi-fi; and more surprises still in boxes, including a large commercial popcorn machine.

Teen Center director Kristina Helland couldn’t be more thrilled with the room, and the last few days have “been like Christmas” with the arrival of shipping boxes of new high-tech goodies.She said young people are going to love the place, enough that they’ll take ownership of all the features that it offers.

“I want the teens to decide the programs that they want to have,” Helland said. “We want them to be passionate about what they’re doing and have control of the club.”

Helland started working for the club last year, mostly with elementary schoolchildren and driving club vans to and from schools.

Her eclectic mix of talents in music and arts, along with her supervisory skills working at Starbucks, were just what the club and Teen Center needed, officials said. She also has a strong educational background in child development, along with a large extended family in the area that traces back to great-grandparents Eric and Pearl Shurstad, who owned the original Smokey Point Cafe barbecue restaurant for the area of town that now bears its name.

Helland plans to have a questionnaire available for teens on opening night to better gauge what sort of programs they want.

The Teen Center got off to a great start thanks to hip interior design ideas and amenities suggested by the Arlington Youth Council, officials said. That group wanted the center to house a large, wall-mounted, flat-screen TV with surround sound, computers, gaming, tables for studying, wi-fi, DJ station with lighting, and, a must for teens, device-charging stations.

Kinney said the teens’ ideas aligned with what adult club leaders were thinking.

Up until now, teens visiting typically spent time with the smaller kids, providing homework help and playing sports in the gym.

“The young kids look up to the teens, and they get help from them like older brothers and sisters,” Helland said. “But when you’ve got a five-year-old running back and forth while you’re trying to have a conversation with your friends, it just doesn’t work.”

She said the teens “are really excited that they’re going to have their own space.”

The teen center is something club officials have long wanted, but space was at a premium.

Helland has her own wish list for what she would like to see take hold in the teen center.

She would like to see a 3-D printer with basic computer-aided design software, audio-video production equipment and tools for music, athletics, creative graphic design, academic assistance and training. Help with college applications and job resumes would be another helpful plus.

As with all Boys and Girls Clubs, she emphasized that the teen center needs to be a safe place.

Kinney and Helland agreed that the teen center may start out drawing 50 participants, but could easily double as word spreads.

Kinney said teen center hours relative to facilities hours still needs to be decided. The club plans to begin with occasional Teen Nights on Fridays, which could expand, depending on interest.

Helland looks forward to the job not just for today’s teenagers, but for youngsters who will take advantage of it in the future, like her own 8-year-old son, Reid.

“I’m really excited to be a part of the teen center at the start, and figuring out what the needs are for the long term,” she said.