From press release

Recently, the Salvation Army has announced their intent to sell the Salvation Army/nCenter building at 220 S. Madison St. With this sale pending, and after careful consideration, the Rockford Youth Initiative (RYI) Board of Directors and their executive staff have opted to utilize this opportunity to revamp and restructure nFactor programming and to relocate the nCenter to a smaller facility that will better meet the needs of their program participants.

The new nCenter facility will be just two blocks away in a smaller, more focused space. “Our goal is to provide programming for teens which helps them to make better choices, to graduate from high school, and to understand their options after high school,” said RYI Director Gerald Lott. “When we evaluated the programming which seemed to have the most positive impact, we found that the time spent focused in a learning environment was the most effective in teaching these lessons. The gym, the pool, the outside facilities were all great, but were not necessary in achieving our program goals. The smaller space will allow us to focus more on the needs of the teens and less on the needs of maintaining a building,” Lott said.

However, just because the location will change, nFactor programming will not cease. During this transitional period, students may participate in nFactor programming at these locations: Top Performers Sports Facility in Loves Park, Ken-Rock Community Center, and various Boys and Girls Clubs.

“We would like to thank all those organizations that have assisted the nCenter over the past two years. The City of Rockford and the Salvation Army developed a strong concept and provided a great space to grow the program. The Rockford Youth Initiative promises to continue this passion and will continue to combine educational and recreational activities and to offer a safe, structured environment for Rockford teens,” Lott said.

The new nCenter will be remodeled to maintain the trademark look the facility had achieved at the Madison Street location. The reconstruction of the Millennium Center had been driven by Rockford region trade unions. It is estimated that at the completion of the project, more than 5,000 hours of professional grade trade work were completed before the dedication ceremony. “The community involvement during the first renovation was instrumental in bringing the nCenter into operation. We hope to continue these community partnerships and work with some of our same volunteers and contributors to keep our new space as close as possible to the original nCenter,” Mayor Morriseey said.

Watch for developments at the website www.ncenter-rockford.com ^[1] and join them for a grand re-opening in the coming months.

From the Oct. 6-12, 2010 issue