Ask your average Sedona teen what there is to do in their town and chances are you will receive a long pause in response.

According to the 2000 U.S. census, about 87 percent of people living in Sedona are over the age of 18 and residents over the age of 65 make up more than 25 percent of the city’s population.
Since the demographics show an obvious disparity for those growing up in Sedona, many teens feel the left over 13 percent commonly receive little to no priority within their community.

Although some efforts have been made with the Teen Center building in Posse Grounds Park, the initial intentions have strayed away from the teenage audience and have moved more toward benefiting the art community. The center was donated to the city of Sedona by Friends of the Garland Park in 2001.

“The city did not build the Teen Center so I cannot tell you 100 percent what the original goals or motives were, but I would think since they named it the Teen Center, that was their intent — to build a gathering place for teens to congregate,” said Rachel Murdoch, manager of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.

“It has never fully functioned as a center for teens.  The Boys & Girls Club had different programs for teenagers, but were always most successful with child-care programs and middle school aged kids. Then with the YMCA, it started to morph into offering classes for adults and community groups — and then they were gone and the building was empty. From there, we rented it out to individual groups. It was rented for a wedding rehearsal, a church on Sundays, etc.”

The Teen Center — now called the Hub — is currently being leased to Red Earth Theatre as a performing arts facility.

While still acknowledging the beauty of their town, just looking at red rock views all day can bring boredom to even the most appreciative teenager.

“My friends and I always have the same struggle of just driving around and looking for things to do,” Mason Feldtkeller, 17, said. “Most businesses don’t stay open late so we usually find ourselves just hanging out at our friends’ houses at night.

“When I’m in Sedona, I spend a lot of my time in coffee shops and sometimes just walking around Uptown. It would be cool to have a hang-out spot where teenagers would actually like to be that wasn’t so regulated or planned out. Having something such as a roller rink would be a fun place to go occasionally. I’ve lived here my entire life and you can only go on so many hikes.”

High school students who have grown up in Sedona also recognize the lack of night life offered in their community.

“It’s always been hard to find something entertaining to do for me and my friends, even on weekends,” Agustin Lopez, 16, said. “All restaurants close around 8 p.m. and the latest movies are still only until 9 p.m., so there’s not a lot of options for younger people who live in this community.

“I think there should be more night life in Sedona, especially geared toward younger people.”

Teens who have jobs in Sedona often still see the need for more things to do, even from those outside of the teenage population.

“I think we need more things to do in the Village [of Oak Creek], especially in the Outlet Mall,” Emma Keider, 17, said.  “I work there and everyone who comes in is always saying things like, ‘Where are all the stores?’ I think adding more stores would not only benefit teenagers, but could also bring in more tourists and profit, too.

“Also, I think a cool thing to have would be live shows or concerts in the Sedona Performing Arts Center or maybe the Cultural Park.

“When I lived in Michigan, there used to be all kinds of events and parades that would bring the Sedona community together.”

The Cultural Park, however, doesn’t seem to be an option at this point.

“The Cultural Park was a big venue and it’s very difficult to operate a big venue,” Sedona Mayor Sandy Moriarty said. “Most performing art centers don’t make it on the basis of admissions alone — they have to have some kind of other sponsorship or subsidy from the city to operate in the black.

“We are about to start building Barbara Antonsen Park, which will be a smaller venue but similar [to the Cultural Park]. Unfortunately, part of the problem there was the neighbors would be bothered by the noise. It will probably be operated mostly in the daytime.”

Other teenagers expressed a common desire for a diner or a coffee shop that would stay open later into the evening.

“A cool place to have would be a little diner that stays open late where teens can go to hang out at and get fairly cheap but classic food,” Annie Parrella, 17, said.

Random Acts of Coffee, which was open for two years starting in 2003, was not only a nightly hangout, but a creative outlet for many in a non-judging atmosphere.

“We were open until at least midnight every day. It was just a place for teens to go that also had live music and open mic nights,” co-owner Katie Smith said. “It gave teenagers the opportunity to tap into their creative side and many high schoolers would come to perform at open mic poetry at the shop.

“In general, teens just need a common location that is safe and open — letting them be who they are.”

There’s not much City Council can do to create new businesses or make the existing ones keep their doors open later. However, creating open events that appeal to teens is always a consideration, according to Murdoch.

“They want something to do at night. They want dances and they enjoy live music. We have been told all that. So we invented Club Scene. A club-like atmosphere with smoke machines, lasers, a live DJ, dance floor, food and drinks catered just for them,” she said. “We offered it during summer when they have spare time and it was every Tuesday night at Sound Bites Grill.
They never showed. We thought it would be well received and give them somewhere fun to go at night in Sedona, but they didn’t support it.

“We have worked with the Student Council and Future Business Leaders of America to host events and those didn’t work either. The only event that was remotely successful with teens was the Spring Fling last May and that only worked because it was during school hours and was on their campus. They practically had to go.”

Creating a connection between the city and teenagers has always been a difficult task for Sedona, but spending more time to look at both perspectives could provide an insight into what can be done to improve each end in the future.

“We would love to have programming for teenagers,” Murdoch said, “But how to actually get them on board and invested in the events has eluded us.”