LANSING, Mich. — Fox 47 looked into the youth center that caught fire last fall in Delhi Township. The building was considered a total loss by firefighters. But this week they open their doors for the first time this year.
“This is where all the ramps were and right here was the vending area,” said Tyler Janetzke as he walked along the empty ground.
Janetzke remembers the layout of the original Building 21 like the back of his hand.
“This place is my home,” said Janetzke .
Two years ago he started going there after school to skate and hang out. When the building went up in flames, he says he was devastated.
“I learned most of my tricks at building and the fact that it all like burned down was like the memories were burning along with it,” said Janetzke.
Now all that’s physically left is a concrete bench that sat out front.
“It helped us get us through some tough times,” said Janetzke.
Now, the students are back for the first time this year, Janetzke says it feels just like old times.
“It’s not about the building anymore, it's about the people who come here and make it home and Ben,” said Janetzke.
That’s exactly why Benjamin Schartow says he started Building 21 eight years ago after a drunk driving accident killed three teenagers.
“It kind of rocked the whole community and I knew we needed to do something for teenagers after school and on weekends,” said Schartow.
Even though the fire destroyed everything. Schartow says he knew he couldn’t just give up on the students.
"That's what we found out post fire was that this was a place for them to belong. So we wanted to keep providing that even though we couldn't provide all the fun stuff that we had and we didn't have a skate park anymore,” said Schartow.
From the ashes, Schartow says this is just the next step in their journey.
"I guess you can say it's the re-envisioning of Building 21," said Schartow.
The organization hopes to have a plan for the new building in place by this Nov. 14. They say they are still taking donations and volunteers.
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