It's been more than a year coming, but the Ake Ake Youth Centre in Castlecliff is finally ready for it's grand opening.
In 2010, Yes 2 Youth and the Wanganui District Council collaborated on a plan to turn an empty space in the Yes 2 Youth (Y2Y) building, in Rangiora St, Castlecliff, into a youth centre.
The Ake Ake project (meaning to rise up), as it was called, received funding from the Government's Community Max scheme, which paid minimum wage to youth aged 16-24 to work 30 hours a week for six months to complete projects for the benefit of the community or environment.
The project was led by local artist Pamela Roy and four teens recommended by Work and Income set to work.
At the end of the six months, the renovations were largely done, and additional funding was needed to furnish the youth centre.
Now, a year on, following community sponsorship and fundraising events, including a show by clinical psychologist Nigel Latta, the centre is finally furnished and set to have a grand opening on Monday.
Yes 2 Youth manager Dot Greenfield said the hope was that the youth centre would be a place where young people from age 14 could go to hang out or participate in youth programmes or groups.
The centre contained a lockable office, pool table, lounge area, football table and table tennis, and board games and fold-away chairs and tables were available.
A lot of young people had been involved in the ideas of how to run the centre and what they wanted to see in it, she said.
It was primarily funded by Y2Y, the Wanganui District Council and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency.
For a start, the centre would just be for hire to groups mentoring young people, church youth groups or alternative education groups for young people, but later on Ms Greenfield hoped they would have the funds to employ someone to run it fulltime so it could be open during the day.
The hours community groups could hire the space were flexible, she said.
The building would be blessed at the invitation-only opening.