BY LAYLI WHYTE
Staff Writer

LAYLI WHYTE The 100-year-old former police headquarters is the new home of the Children’s Cultural Center. RED BANK — A building that is more than 100 years old is about to begin a new life as the site for children’s arts programs.

The Children’s Cultural Center at 51 Monmouth St. will open its doors in July as a place for children from throughout the area to explore the arts in the most creative ways.

Tricia Schaeffer, executive director of this branch of the Community YMCA of Red Bank, said the goal of the center is to bring children back to the cultural roots of all art forms, from pottery to photography.

“We want to tap into the natural culture of the community,” she said during a tour of the facility last Thursday.

Planning for the center began in 2001, and in May 2002 the Community YMCA of Red Bank stepped in to help provide additional financial support, according to Rachel Warnick, director of communications for the YMCA.

The cost of the renovation project was slightly over $3 million, according to Warnick, and several grants were awarded to complete the project.

“We received a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,” she said, “for $447,000, and we got a Community Block Grant from Monmouth County for $129,077.”

Schaeffer said that although the construction is now complete, the “lipstick” still needs to be added.

“We had to stick to historic colors,” she said, “because this building is on both the state and national historic registers.”

The vintage building that houses the center is the former borough Police Department.

Built in 1892, the structure originally served as the Shrewsbury Township Hall when the borough was part of that township.

The borough sold the building to the center for $1 in 1997, and the old police station has been transformed for the new role of helping children experience the arts.

“The holding cells are now the bathrooms,” said Schaeffer. “When we came in, we could see the concrete slabs where the cells used to be.”

The new use of the building speaks more to freedom than lock-up, with a room devoted entirely to making a mess.

“We held children’s focus groups, asking them what they wanted most,” said Schaeffer. “Across the board, they all said they wanted a room where they could paint on the walls and everything else.”

The Messy Paint Room will have retractable, screen-like walls and random objects from car parts to old furniture for children to paint any way they like. Even the floor is fair game.

The messy room shares a floor with a full art studio, which will be a more structured art setting, with projects including watercolor and acrylic painting, paper making and book binding.

“It will be a full visual art studio,” said Schaeffer.

The art studio leads into Exhibit Hall, which will be used to display the children’s work, and will also serve as an expanded space for nearby culinary and language arts classes.

The Culinary Arts Room consists of a full kitchen where children can learn how to mix flavors in “kid-friendly dishes” and learn basic kitchen safety.

The Language Arts Room is a little nook in the corner of the building, which will be used for such programs as storytelling, and writing short stories and scripts for the theater program.

All the rooms flow from one to the other, with wide open doors and windows.

“We wanted a very open space,” said Schaeffer, “not classrooms and closed spaces.”

There will also be an art supply store on the first floor, with proceeds going toward funding the center, according to Schaeffer.

The lower level of the building will house more rooms for messy activities, said Schaeffer, like pottery and woodworking.

The darkness of the basement is perfect for use as a photography dark room, she added.

“It was used as a forensics room when the police station was here,” she said.

In the photography program, children will learn how to do everything from creating a pinhole camera to using digital cameras and creating computer images. They will also learn how to develop their own pictures.

Next to that room is a soundproof music and dance studio, where children will learn not only how to play instruments, but the music theory and culture behind those instruments.

“We’ll hold drumming circles,” said Schaeffer.

For the woodworking class, children will learn to create “simple but useful objects,” according to the class description.

Pottery skills ranging from simple coil pots to using the potter’s wheel will be taught to children in the Pottery Room on the lower level.

“We’ll have a full kiln down here, as well as wheels for the older kids,” said Schaeffer.

The second floor will be used exclusively for theater and performing arts, with a stage and audience area that can also be used to exhibit other art from the different classes, as well as a film and editing area where children can learn to do everything from making voice-overs to creating their own television shows.

“They can do animation and Claymation,” said Schaeffer. “They will learn the basics, from beginning to end. This is the stuff that you don’t always learn when you’re young.”

On July 11, there will be what Schaeffer called a “soft opening,” which will allow children to participate in a seven-week Summer Arts Camp.

Each week will rotate the children through six of the eight available workshops, she said.

“This will allow children to be exposed to the different art programs we have to offer,” said Schaeffer. “Kids don’t know what’s available.”

Adult classes are planned for the future, but the center is looking forward to getting started with children’s programs first.

For now, said Schaeffer, classes are open to children ages 2 to 12, except for film and photography, which will be open only to ages 4 to 12 because of the equipment involved.

“Even woodworking,” she said. “They won’t be using the same tools, obviously, but they can learn the basics and work in their own way.”