 myplace Middlesbrough
"The new generation leading regeneration."
15-year-old John Galbraith, one of the 831-strong Middlesbrough myplace team
The Custom House, standing in the shadow of the Transporter Bridge - the symbol of Middlesbrough which straddles the River Tees - is a building which triggers strong emotions.
Architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner declared the Custom House to be "the most dignified building of the first Middlesbrough."
Wendy Kelly of Middlesbrough Council, who wrote the successful myplace bid and describes herself as a truffle pig for funding, says, "It's old, it's shabby, it's derelict."
And the young people of Middlesbrough, on the day they chose the Grade II listed Custom House to be their place for myplace, looked up at it and said, "It's grand, it's imposing - we love it."
This grand, imposing, Greek revival style building could probably tell some stories. In 1838, when the Duke of Sussex, Queen Victoria's uncle and Middlesbrough's first royal visitor, arrived in town, he expected some serious red carpet treatment. And where did he attend the reception and banquet held in his honour? The Custom House.
When William Gladstone called by in 1862, he was a stone's throw from the Custom House when he pronounced Middlesbrough "this remarkable place, the youngest child of England's enterprise...but if an infant, an infant Hercules." This was at a time when Middlesbrough's industrial creativity was at its peak; the period after iron ore had been found in the Cleveland Hills, a discovery which made Middlesbrough's exponential growth similar to the American gold rush. These were the days when steel producers and bridge builders Dorman Long stamped "made in Middlesbrough" on the side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The Custom House was originally built in 1836 and offered public exchange rooms for merchants and business men to meet, private offices and a hotel. Middlesbrough Council bought the property in 1853 and later sold it to Her Majesty's Customs and Excise. Most recently it was actually used as a community centre, but it closed in the late eighties. Today, it is once again owned by the council, and it lies empty and boarded up on a patch of neglected land in Middlehaven, the oldest part of Middlesbrough.
"This is no-one's home," is how many of the young people in Middlesbrough describe the area. And the fact that Middlehaven, often described as "over the border", with the railway bridge being the border, is no-one's home is exactly why the Custom House is the perfect home for myplace.
"It's neutral territory," is how Wendy Kelly puts it. "It's in an area which older people still remember as being the red light district, but for young people, what they see in Middlehaven is the football stadium and the new college."
The new college is the £68m Middlesbrough College designed by Faber Maunsell, with facilities for 10,000 students. Another, even newer neighbour is Boho 1, the centre for arts and digital media businesses which opened in September 2009. One of the roads leading to the college has been pedestrianised and is now brightly lit, and exactly one year after the college opened, there is a steady stream of students between the new building and the town, passing close to the Custom House.
The young people who have asked for a catering facility and training kitchen in Custom House - they've dropped the 'the' as a nod to this new chapter in its life - are already thinking that they will be able to attract students from the nearby college to come and sample their food.
And the cafe is just one of many ideas that will make this myplace sustainable.
"We've concentrated on income generation," explains Wendy. Just one example of this is that the hotel which adjoins the main building will be home to a Primary Care Trust 'life store' or one-stop health shop.
A visit to Custom House will cost 50p, or you can go for annual membership at £2.50. The young people have insisted that they want to pay to use the centre they have designed for themselves, with all the things they have asked for.
And they are going to get everything that they asked for. In the "big, open meetings" that Wendy Kelly organised, a deluge of ideas came from a regular group of 831 young people.
"We got to a point where we said to them, 'even if we don't get the myplace funding, we'll find some other way of getting the money', because there was so much hope and enthusiasm," says Sharon Barker, who also works at the council.
"We were able to involve groups of young people who are not usually involved," says Wendy. "The travelling community, and deaf and autistic young people. It means that autistic young people can make decisions about the colours used, which has a bearing for them."
The doors of Custom House may still not be open, yet already new, positive partnerships are being formed, with activities that will be continued in this myplace centre. An arts and media project is being developed. There is a partnership with the senior citizens forum: storytelling activities so that older people who used to work on the docks can bring the area alive for the younger people. There are plans to transcribe the ships' registers. An urban farming initiative is already underway.
And the potential is massive. The energy is still palpable, even from Wendy and Sharon, who are now relieved to be able to catch up with their day jobs while Andrew Mearns takes on the day-to-day running of the project.
"I think that every single young person will want to be a member," says Wendy. "We're a bit of a mish-mash here. We've accommodated everything. Arts, sports, education. We've listened to everything they've said and they really feel as if they own it. She smiles as she says, "I think they'll believe it when the doors finally open. That's when they'll see their ideas come to life."
The Custom House in a tag
Location:St Hilda's in the Greater Middlehaven area of Middlesbrough
History: Building completed 1837. Cost: £4,500. Architect: George Burlison
Project value: £4.3m
Doors open: Summer 2011
Theme: A world class mix of services and positive activities in one of Middlesbrough's oldest buildings
Activities:
Specialised youth club provision
Arts projects - dance, drama, music, film and art
Allotments
Gym, climbing wall and sports facilities
Nightclub, interactive games and library
Internet cafe
Catering, training kitchen and cafe
Community banking
Power boating
Diplomas and foundation learning
Facilities:
Education, employment and training information; advice and guidance
Generic health services
Pregnancy and sexual health advice
Drug and alcohol advice and guidance and support
Support for young offenders
Links:
Middlesbrough PCT
Community Ventures Ltd (a local social enterprise)
South Tees Youth Offending Service
DISC (a regional charity working to reduce social exclusion)
Middlesbrough Older Persons Partnership
Tees Valley Arts
Professional Services Group
Contact:
Andrew Mearns
Myplace Project Officer
Tel: 01642 728081
Email: Andrew_Mearns@middlesbrough.gov.uk
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Resources 
Custom House Middlesbrough Inspirational (
