Physical Education classes were conducted at the Youth Center, located two blocks away from the Van Horne Building. Students and teachers were required to commute in all weather conditions from the Van Horne building to the Youth Center on a daily basis. This resulted in a considerable loss of time, and sometimes a loss of students in traveling to these classes.
On the bottom floor of the Youth Center was a small gymnasium where students conducted physical education classes. There was a basketball court so small that the marked Ts on the floor under each basket intersected with each other. Whereas on a regulation sized basketball court, the Ts under each basket are at opposite ends of the court. During early competitions against other schools, the Dryden teams were badly beaten because they were not accustomed to playing on a regular size basketball court.
The Youth Center was located close to the present day parking lot at the paper mill. Roy Wilson remembers the building located below street level and about seventy five feet from the corner of Duke and Earl Streets. Originally the building was called the Scout’s hall.But during the 1930s, the scouts could no longer afford the upkeep required to maintain the building, so the Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) took over the building in the early 1940s, and transformed it into a physical education center.
Fergus Brown clearly recalls helping in the construction of the original Scout’s hall. A gravel foundation was laid onto which eight foot railway ties were placed. Then ties were positioned on end around the gravel foundation and the center was constructed in such a manner. The ties were donated at the time by Norman McMillan, director of the Woodlands division of the Dryden Paper Mill. No insulation was used and the building was very cold during wintertime.
The Youth center was a vital edifice not only because it was used as the sports center for teens, but because it was the social center for teen dances, and became known as the “Teen Canteen”.
The Youth center eventually burned to the ground (the exact date is unknown), and along with the demise of this building, was the loss of many photographs and historical documents that were stored in the upstairs offices of the Jaycees.