Save the Platou Community Center

Friends please take the time to sign the petition to save the Platou Community Center in Westbury.

The city has announced plans to close the Platou Community Center in Westbury. Here is a link to an new on-line petition to endorse that you want the Platou Community Center in Westbury to stay open. Please sign the online petition, even if you already signed a paper petition, and forward this message to as many people as possible and also to your email lists.

You do not have to live in Westbury to agree that you would like to have the community center in Westbury OPEN to serve area youth and also be available for use by the community. Also, if you have multiple adults in a household, please consider having each adult sign the online petition.

http://www.petitiononline.com/westbury

We would still appreciate as many people as possible contacting Mayor Parker, CM Clutterbuck, and the five at-large Councilmembers.

FACT SHEET about the Platou Community Center – 11655 Chimney Rock

1. Westbury does not want another VACANT building in our community. We want the Platou Community Center at 11655 Chimney Rock to stay open.

2. The Friends of Chimney Rock Park organizes classes and activities for the community when the center is not being used by the city parks and recreation department for programs. These activities include: exercise classes, weight loss classes, dance classes, various crafts, games, and social events.

3. Scheduled classes at the Platou Center are published in the monthly Westbury Civic Club newsletter.

4. The Platou Community Center has been available to the community for free for public meetings or can be rented for private events.

5. The facility is used to conduct precinct elections. Other community groups which use the facility include: Westbury Civic Club, Westbury Community Garden, Westbury Garden Club, the Bouquettes Garden Club, and Keep Houston Beautiful.

6. Free Courses offered at the facility have included: Drawing, Genealogy, Quilting, Healthy Eating, Rain Gardens, Birds, Composting, and Computer Classes.

7. Westbury residents donated 51 tons of recycled paper in 2010 to support the Platou Community Center.

8. Recent Improvements at Chimney Rock Park and the Platou Community Center:

· April 2011, 15 Westbury United Methodist volunteers raked up more than 100 bags of leaves to clean up the facility

· April 2011, 4 students plus a teacher from Westbury Christian School planted trees and replanted the flower garden at the facility

· April 2011, the NCAA Men’s Final Four Basketball local organizing committee power-washed and re-striped of the basketball courts, and bought new backboards and rims

· May 2011, the city installed new lighting at the facility tennis courts (which are used by the community and also the Westbury High School tennis team)

9. The Platou Community Center is named after longtime Westbury residents. Leiv Platou was President of the Westbury Civic Club several times and a founder of Crime-Stoppers. Betty Platou was a dedicated volunteer at the community center and devoted much time to youth programs at the center.

10. Last summer the summer youth program at the Platou Community Center had as many kids as they could handle, meanwhile, the summer youth program at Godwin Park was closed due to low participation. Yet the city proposes to close Platou Center and run youth programs at Godwin this summer.

Thank you for your support. Friends of Chimney Rock Park & The Westbury Civic Club, Inc.

Subscribe to posts