9 months ago
STANDISH, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- A community center that has served youth on Maine's coast for the past ten years is looking to expand its' offerings by creating a new community and performing arts center in Standish.
"We got to the place where it was great being down at the beach - we loved being down at the beach - but we just felt we really hadn't really connected with everything we were supposed to do with the vision that I had 10, 11 years ago," said Mark Wheeler, founder of the House of David Surfriders. "We really felt that we needed to start working with families, because when there is a kid in crisis, there is usually a family in crisis, also."
Wheeler has big plans for an old farmhouse on Route 25 that has an attached barn and another smaller barn on the property. "We really want to take our barn out there and we want to renovate that into a thousand seat performing arts center," he said. "That is going to be the centerpiece of what we do."
Currently, the house serves as a meeting space for young and old alike, with a game room, kitchen and performance space on the ground floor. He hopes to renovate the smaller barn into an intimate performance space with a coffee shop, meeting and dormitory space. The price tag for all the work is about $3.5 million.
"Most people would look at this and go, 'You are nuts! There is no way, no way you are going to get this done,' and I just look at them and go, 'God made me a promise and I got to do what I got to do,'" he explained.
"The reason we call it the House of David Community Center is when David was a teenager, he was called by God to do something big - to actually take on a giant - and so it just goes to show you that with a little help, cause David had help from God, that there aren't any giants in your life that can't be conquered with a little help," said Wheeler.
They still plan to offer a surf school, at no cost to kids, this summer in Old Orchard Beach where the non-profit got its' start. If you would like more information about the House of David Community Center, you can find their website by clicking here.
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