South Side Youth Center

A meeting of the minds is slated for Tuesday at 8 pm.

South Side Youth Center the first post to my new blog. My goal is to keep everyone involved in the South Side Youth Center’s development up to date with what I’m doing.

Reuse of the existing, closed, indoor ice rink, Neville Arena, is under discussion. The city finally issued the RFP (request for proposals).

Blast from the past. I got in in 2003 about this facility in the Tribune Review.

Group wants rink reopened - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Community activist Mark Rauterkus of South 12th Street said discussions at a number of the community organization meetings that he attends have increasingly turned to the issue of reopening the ice rink.

'People feel that it is a shame for us to have a facility like this just sitting empty,' said Rauterkus, 42, who has two sons. 'I just think we need more amenities, more things to offer our young people. Having the rink closed creates a dark hole in that part of the neighborhood.'

Mark Kinney, who serves on the Market House Children's Athletic Association board, is working to reopen the rink. The association coordinates recreational programs for more than 500 South Side children.

'It's not like we have a vacant piece of land, and we're saying we want to build a new ice skating rink on it from scratch,' said Kinney, who lives on Leticoe Street. 'The facility is already there. We just need to get people together and work with the city to get it opened.'"