The opening of a new teen center in Indio has been halted indefinitely until the Boys and Girls Club of the Coachella Valley can raise the money to hire staff for it.

Construction of the 3,000-square-foot Smilow Family Teen Center wrapped up in October but the Boys and Girls Club has raised less than 10 percent of the $175,000 to hire staff and fill the facility with equipment, CEO Jim Ducatte said.

“We are in a tough economy and so, we have not been able to finalize everything that we needed to in order to open the Teen Center,” Ducatte said.

The Boys and Girls Club had $2.3 million to build the Smilow Family Teen Center next to the John Carrol and Jim O'Brien Boys and Girls Club building, Ducatte said.

That funding came from community donations, a $455,000 grant from the state’s parks department, and a large donation from the family members of Joel Smilow, who are winter residents of Indian Wells.

See the full story in The Indio Sun on Nov. 6.