Friday, March 21, 2008 4:09 PM CDT
Play Too!: New teen club opens at Mattoon Ramada Inn
By DAWN SCHABBING, Features Writer
dschabbing@jg-tc.com
Abel Delgado believes if you give teens a safe place to hang out, it will keep them out of trouble.
So, in recent weeks he’s opened a teen club he’s calling Play Too!
The new club is housed at the Ramada Inn in Mattoon, and has its own entrance at the east side of the building, which acts as a safety measure for its young occupants.
Play Too! is specifically geared for young people age 14-20.
It is an alcohol-free, smoke-free establishment complete with things young people live for — music, videogames and food.
A stage is set up for a live band; a smaller DJ set is nearby. The large dance area is sprinkled with round tables.
Another section offers coin-operated video games, foosball, air hockey and golf; two 52-inch screen TVs for Play Station II, Rock Band and Guitar Hero III sets.
Delgado is renting the area most recently housed by the Taste of Italy restaurant and he plans to have regular monthly drawings for prizes like Xbox 360 game stations, and weekly drawings for iPod Shuffles, both hot items for young people today.
The club offers some drinks, food and snacks for purchase. Anyone with a middle or high school ID gets in for $3. Otherwise, entry fee is $5.
Other future plans are to have a fingerprint scanner to better track patrons, for security purposes.
“Once this system is in place it will help us keep track of the kids. It helps us and parents know who’s here and who’s not,” Delgado said. “It also allows us a way to either deny or keep a watchful eye out on someone.”
Later, his plans include opening an adult bar, but with a separate entrance — away from the teen club. It is to be called, Play!
A tentative grand opening for both Play! and Play Too! is May 9.
Although he grew up in Georgia and Florida, Delgado has lived in Ashmore for three years. In the cities, going to teen clubs was a norm.
“When I moved here, it was June, almost three years ago, and I would see kids around — at Wal-Mart, or running up and down streets, with nothing to do. I thought we needed to get them off the streets and give them something to do,” he said.
He’s taken on the new business venture at age 25, and wants to give Mattoon-Charleston area youth a safe place to be with friends, dance, eat and enjoy being a young person.
He’s optimistic the business will be a hit.
Mattoon businesswoman Nancy Keating has had a similar experience with teen clubs.
“Mattoon is an awesome town and it needs something like this,” she said.
The former owner of E.L. Krackers in Charleston offered a teen night once a week for many years.
“I think it is a great idea — but we had our problems. But that’s not to say it will happen here,” she said.
Play Too! is situated a distance away from where Play! will be, so younger patrons won’t ever be mixing with the adults, Delgado said.
The only people over the age of 20 in Play Too! will be staff and parents who choose to visit.
On opening night last week, Play Too! sold whole pizza pies from Pizza Hut and snacks.
The club is open from 8 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. Parents are encouraged to come in starting at 7 p.m. to look around and visit to find out more about the new club, Delgado said.
He said he realizes that being a new business, it might be difficult for a parent to drop off a child without being able to check it out first.
Keating’s son, Mattoon High School sophomore Alex Keating, was among the first customers to enter the club.
“There were kids of all ages there, but mostly middle school ages. There was also a high school dance that night. I heard the next night (last Saturday) was a bigger crowd.”
Keating said the $3 entry fee (with his school ID) was “a pretty good value.” He spent much of the evening watching or playing videogames and the Guitar Hero competitions.
“If they come here and have a good time, and they go out and tell their friends, we will succeed,” said Delgado, who previously worked as a corporate trainer for Chili’s Bar and Grill.
Delgado said a group of friends like John Blake, Carrie and Jason Sluder, all of Ashmore, and Delane Young of Kansas are helping to get the club off and running.
The group is concentrating on getting the right music in the club for the patrons. Opening night featured Oakland’s Christian rock band, fortyminusone.
“This (new club) should give the teens something to do on Fridays and Saturdays, but keep Sundays open to be home with their parents,” Delgado said.
His staff wants to offer live music and recorded music spun by a DJ. Play Too! wants to bring in other area bands of different genres.
“We’ve played at a lot of youth centers over the years, many of which were Christian-based. Unfortunately a lot of them have closed the doors,” said fortyminusone guitarist Craig Hunt of Oakland.
Hunt, who has served as a youth minister, believes teens need a safe place to go. He believes in Oakland’s Christian youth center, called The Hub, now four years’ strong.
“I think it is a great idea to give teens a place to go. When given a choice a lot of kids will choose the safer, but still entertaining option,” Hunt said.
Hunt also was pleased with the stage set-up, which had proper lighting and sound equipment in place.
“That’s always a plus,” he said. “The opening night went really smooth.”
As a parent of two young children, Hunt liked that the owners want parents to come in and see what the club is all about.
“I would always recommend parents check it out, meet the new owners and see what is inside. It is a club.”
Delgado said after the staff understands exactly what the teens are interested in by way of music, games and food, it could determine its destiny.
“We have to be able to give what the youth want in order to be successful,” Delgado said. “After our first weekend open the kids are saying they had a blast. They had a wonderful time.”
Contact Dawn Schabbing at dschabbing@jg-tc.com.
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Julio wrote on Mar 23, 2008 8:03 PM: