PHILLIPS – A vision of Phillips, Avon and Madrid residents is apparently about to become a reality with the imminent acquisition of a new building for the ZONE.

Nearly five years ago, Jill Berry-Bowen, a native of Phillips, saw a front-page photograph in the newspaper of a youth “squealing up” Main Street in a vehicle.

“It drove me crazy,” she said in an interview Wednesday. It gave a bad impression of the town, she continued.

She resolved to find a way re-energize the community where she grew up.

In the fall of 1999, Berry-Bowen organized a town meeting to determine residents’ interest in revitalizing a town that had lost most of its manufacturing jobs but still had a lot of character.

A group of teens reluctantly attending that first meeting stood lined up by the door, “so they could bolt,” Berry-Bowen said. She asked them what they wanted.

The response: a place.

They wanted a place with a couch and a TV and said they didn’t believe it could be done.

“They gave us the challenge,” said Berry-Bowen.

By January the kids had their place – the ZONE, they called it – in a vacant building next to 5K Pizza on Main Street in Phillips.

“It wasn’t pretty,” said Berry-Bowen, “but we did it.”

Soon after, a board of adults and youth was formed to further the mission. Named the ZONE Coalition, it was recently incorporated.

Its mission: “To revitalize the spirit of Avon, Madrid and Phillips through the collaborative development of a community center to benefit the well-being of all who live here.”

The 17-member board has been negotiating with members of the American Legion to acquire the legion’s building, known as the “old gym.” It appears that the agreement is imminent, with only paperwork to be signed, according to Berry-Bowen, who hopes to seal the deal by early September.

Berry-Bowen said that the group’s greatest challenge was educating the community. She feels that residents who did not understand the mission were skeptical and did not become as engaged as she would have liked.

She feels, though, that has changed and sees the community getting more involved.

David Robie of Madrid, a co-chairman of the coalition with Berry-Bowen, called her and Vice Chairman Gillian Trapp the guiding lights of the program. A recent transplant from New Jersey, he joined the board more than a year ago.

He says he loves the small-town atmosphere of Madrid, with “people who think big,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

He listed not only activities for youth but fitness, vocational and other community events as goals of the coalition.

The new board will also be seeking funding through grants. All three towns have allocated funds to the project, according to Berry-Bowen.

Berry-Bowen seems thrilled with the progress of the group, saying that she has noticed a change in the town already. She is happy to see the kids she characterizes as “good” blossom as a result of the activities.

“We’ve made a difference in people’s lives, and that’s what life is all about,” she said. “I’m blessed to have been involved,” she added.

The group will be at the “old gym” at 8 a.m. Saturday to clean it out in preparation for the transition to the community center. All are welcome to participate.

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