Brooklyn Center is one floor closer to having a new teen recreation center on the high school grounds. The 7,000-square-foot, $654,000 center was built in August without an athletic floor.

Last month, the city of Brooklyn Center approved a $50,000 allocation that will allow the district to install a multipurpose floor and provide athletic equipment, including basketball hoops. A $16,000 grant from CenturyLink, through the state Public Utilities Commission, will help install a sound system covering the gym and the surrounding playing fields. An additional $3,000 grant from the same source will provide a retracting movie screen. All of that is on top of the original $304,000 Hennepin County Teen Recreation Grant from revenues generated as part of the Twins ballpark sales tax.

City and school officials hope to create a place for teens to interact and be active, in a city where many of the existing recreational facilities are monopolized by scheduled events, including youth and adult sports leagues.