When Jasmine Gruen of Worcester was a student at U-32 Middle & High School in Montpelier, the only time to see her friends was after school. Because U-32 serves kids who mainly live at least half an hour away, the only convenient place to do that was downtown. They’d move from coffee shop to coffee shop, but they couldn’t always afford to buy something.
In the Capital City, she said, “You can’t stay in one place for long and be loud and rambunctious in the way that young people should be able to. They deserve a space where they are allowed to do that.”
Gruen, now 20, is creating just such a space with Clubhouse Commons, a new initiative set to open this summer at 4 Langdon Street, former home of Bent Nails Bistro and Sweet Melissa’s. The building has been empty since Bent Nails moved to Middlesex last October. Gruen’s team also includes Esther Lent, 27; Ayden LaPoint, 20; and Hutch Warren, 21. They hope to gain nonprofit status in the future.
Gruen said Jesse Jacobs, who owns the building, was supportive of their idea but asked that they demonstrate its viability by securing funding for eight months of anticipated operating expenses prior to signing a lease. As of July 1, Clubhouse Commons had raised a total of $36,000, Gruen said, and Jacobs gave them the go-ahead to move forward with the project. Warren has a construction background and will be completing minor renovations before the space opens to the public, which the team anticipates will be in August.
The four founders envision Clubhouse Commons as a hangout spot, music and art venue, and education center run by and for youths, mainly high schoolers and those in their early twenties. It will be drug- and alcohol-free, Gruen said; in place of the existing bar, Warren will operate a first-floor café and hire young people to work there. They’re hoping for community donations of tables, chairs and couches to make the space cozy. Plans are in the works for a rotating selection of youth visual art and an open “graffiti wall.” The current stage setup will be used for shows on Friday and Saturday nights featuring youth bands. Jasmine’s father, musician Kris Gruen, is donating a PA system.
The second floor will house educational programming, which Jasmine Gruen imagines as “a space where young people can teach other young people about something that they’re really, really deeply passionate about in a way that supports them in looking inward and then encourages them to move outward,” she said. The goal, she said, is civic engagement and personal growth as much as learning.
Gruen started hatching the idea of a youth hangout as a sophomore at Hampshire College in Massachusetts. After Hampshire announced its closure in the spring, she decided to go all in on the project and complete her studies closer to home at Vermont State University-Johnson. She and LaPoint will sublease the building’s third-floor apartment, allowing them to keep the downstairs venue open later in the evenings.
Montpelier already has a successful teen center, run by Elevate Youth Services in the basement of the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. But Gruen stressed that Clubhouse Commons won’t be the same kind of space. While there may be some overlap, she thinks younger teens who favor the Basement Teen Center might start frequenting the Clubhouse as older high school and college students.
Everyone will be welcome at Clubhouse Commons, Gruen stressed, though the focus will be on supporting youths. Tickets for shows might be $10 for the general public, for example, and free for those 18 and younger. Classes will only be open to young people. The team has an advisory board of older folks, Gruen said, and values intergenerational input. The café and music venue will serve visitors of all ages, but Gruen is willing to have hard conversations with patrons if necessary, she said: “Not every older person is going to be in the space in a way that is appropriate and respectful.”
At its core, Clubhouse Commons aims to be a place where youths can feel safe and comfortable. “Though older people in the community will also be invited into the space, the space will not be made for them,” Gruen said. “We’re kind of flipping the script on that.”
Learn more at @clubhousecommonsvt on Instagram.
