Phase 2 of the Downtown Teen Center renovation is in full swing! Estimated completion is summer 2026 with programming re-starting this fall.
This week has been asbestos abatement week. Most of the flooring I knew throughout the building was laid on top of other older flooring. Sometimes there were even two layers beneath. Those were the problematic, asbestos-rich layers. We had lived 50 years blissfully atop the encapsulated, carcinogenic mastic. It was fine as long as we never, ever, disturbed it.
Along with asbestos abatement has been the commencement of comprehensive cosmetic upgrades throughout 6,000 sq ft of building. And wow, we found some interesting things inside the walls. Buried electrical, hidden junctions, abandoned pipes, walls that stopped short of the ceiling, the evidence of leaks with rusted joist hangers to boot. It’s the archeological evidence of jobs done quick and dirty, or perhaps “budget friendly” is the charitable way of putting it. What began as a simple solution had grown into a complex, tangled mess. It was “fine” as long as you just leave it as it is, for as long as you can, until the wheels come off.
But we won’t do that. Kids need spaces made for them that communicate care and safety, facilitate programming that matters for their lives, and creates the setting for gospel sharing conversations.
Renovation (literally to “make new again”) is what we’re after in this building and it is what God is after in people. Renovation requires the old to go so the new can come. So the asbestos-flooring is gone now and so is all that buried electrical. The leaky roof was assessed, cleaned, repaired and sealed. Crooked hallways are made straight and rooms are now designed with a clear, kid-facing purpose. And next week it’ll be all the next things on the list.
Similarly, God’s not going to band-aid over the problems in your soul. He’s going to make you new. What you’ve been burying under layer after layer He has got to root out. He’s re-making you into the image of His son; into who you were really made to be. It’s going to be awesome! The alternative is to try and ride it out, changing nothing, until the atrophy of sin finally wins and the wheels come off. But you won’t do that. There’s so much to life God has for you, so much purpose and kingdom-adventure waiting for you!
God is committed to the renovation of every kids heart, mind and soul because in the economy of God’s great love, they are worth it. He does it because he chooses too, because it is in His loving nature to do it.
And so yes, this building at 1401 E. Divisadero St. is also worth it, with its proximity to 1,800 teens in the zip code. We choose to do the hard work, giving generously out of love like God, that this place would be the setting for new life.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
Floors abated. New roofing. The renovation continues!
