Oxford’s Parks and Recreation has a multitude of activities directed toward Oxford’s youth and teens. One of these resources for local youth is a teen center called The Attic.
The Attic is Oxford’s Youth/Teen Center, open to grades four through eight with purchase of a TRI, Talawanda Recreation Incorporated, Community Youth membership. The membership is $10 per year for Oxford residents and $11 for non-residents, according to the Oxford Aquatics and Recreation supervisor, Emily Sollenberger.
The TRI Community Center currently has 55 youth members, ages 10 to 17, who have access to the Attic as well as the gymnasium and weight room.
Since its opening, The Attic has changed its targeted age group from sixth to 12th graders to now, fourth to eighth graders, according to Oxford Parks and Recreation director, Casey Wooddell.
“Over time we have adjusted it down to be a youth center, because we weren’t seeing any high school students,” Wooddell said. “High school students can get themselves where they want to go and that wasn’t the teen center.”
“The Attic is an in-house project that we did ourselves and we planned to open in early 2020, but Covid derailed that,” Wooddell said.
When the Attic first opened it was restricted to two to three kids at a time, but this number has since increased to allow eight kids at a time in the Attic due to its size, according to Woodell.
“There was some grant funding that helped and some of it was in-house funding from Parks and Rec and some of it was through the TRI, the non-profit that owns the building,” Wooddell said.
Located on the third floor of Oxford’s TRI Community Center, The Attic features video game stations such as a Playstation, Xbox and a Nintendo Switch. Additionally there is an air hockey table, a Nerf basketball hoop, an Amazon Alexa to stream music and a study table, according to Sollenberger.
Video game systems are a highlight of the Attic, but Wooddell and The Oxford Parks and Recreation department say that kids are not enticed by this. Many of them have the same gaming systems at their own homes.
“It hasn’t seen the use that we would have hoped, so we’re trying to create new ideas,” Woodell said. “One idea may be to eliminate or reduce the amount of video game systems and go with items like ping pong tables or a pool table,” Wooddell said.
Besides these games and activities, OPRD also hosts organized events at the Attic.
“We’ve had an NFL Madden tournament that everyone had to register for,” Sollenberger said. “They came to the center and played and we had a bracket style tournament.”
Other programs include “teen lock-ins”, where attendees stay at the Youth Center for five to six hours and play games for prizes, at a fee of $15. The Attic also offered snacks like pizza and popcorn, according to Sollenberger.
“We also have a gymnasium that is close to the Attic, so we host basketball tournaments and other activities,” Sollenberger said.
The Attic is available to be reserved for school groups and private parties free of charge, which allows them access to both the Attic and the gymnasium, which are connected via a staircase, according to Wooddell.
“We have video cameras that the front desk can see and there is an intercom system that allows the front desk to communicate with the kids,” Sollenberger said. This intercom system is used for communicating when parents have arrived to pick up their kids as well as a form of supervision.
The Attic membership allows for children to check themselves in and out of the Attic as they please after their parents sign a number of waivers, according to Sollenberger.
“A lot of the kids walk to us especially since the middle school isn’t that far, so the kids come here or the library after school,” Sollenberger said. “Our community is small enough that kids can walk to these places.”
The OPRD hosts four events throughout the year for Oxford Teens outside of The Attic. These events include movie trips, a Pacers game, a Cincinnati hockey game and a trip to Arena 59, a new entertainment center in Hamilton, according to Sollenberger.
The Attic Youth/Teen Center is located within the TRI Community Center at 6025 Fairfield Rd, open from 3 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. For more information about the Attic and other Teen activities hosted by ORPD see the ORPD October 2024 to March 2025 Program Guide.
