THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, October 28, 1994               TAG: 9410280620
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                         LENGTH: Short :   35 lines

GIRLS INC. TELLS WORRIED PARENTS THEY'RE STAYING IN DEEP CREEK

Deep Creek parents concerned that a new Girls Inc. Youth Center over on Portsmouth Boulevard might mean an end to their own neighborhood center can relax.

Girls Inc. won't be closing its Deep Creek Youth Center after all.

An application presented to the City Council for permission to build a youth center in Portsmouth had incorrectly indicated the Deep Creek center would close.

When that information was made public, Girls Inc. sent a flurry of letters to parents in Deep Creek assuring them that the center there, which has undergone recent renovations, would remain open.

The Deep Creek Center is a smaller, older facility with more limited hours than the new Youth Center will have.

The agency will be closing its center in the Westhaven section of the city.

It leases the building, which would have required major renovations to meet state licensing requirements, from the school board.

The council approved the new center, 5-2, on Tuesday.

Parents from the Deep Creek Center, which will close at 6 p.m., will also be able to bring their children to evening activities at the new Portsmouth center. Children from Deep Creek will also be able to use the new center's indoor swimming pool. by CNB