· The Phoenix ·

Many teenagers seem averse to physical work if asked to pitch in with chores at home, but in Petaluma this week teens are gladly grabbing hammers, nails and cleaning supplies to help spruce up their home-away-from-home.

OAS_AD('Middle'); The Phoenix Theater is getting a Clean Sweep, a project undertaken jointly by Phoenix patrons, the Sunrise Rotary Club and Petaluma's Rebuilding Together chapter.

About 30 kids from throughout Sonoma County ignored the heat and showed up to work on the project, which is scheduled to last all week at the popular hangout.

The floor used for skateboarding has been loved to death, and volunteer laborers are pulling up old, damaged floor boards and replacing them with new plywood.

They're also tearing some of the wood panels o ff the wall and covering the new surfaces with fire-retardant paint. Graffiti artists will be invited to cover the new sections with murals.

"We needed this done really bad. We're trying to take care of it," said Austin Shields, 16, who is head of the Phoenix's teen council.

"We're trying to make it the best place possible, " Shields said.

He and his friends Justin Hodges, 17, and Gabe Castellani, 15, plan ned to spend the week doing whatever needed to be done to upgrade the building's interior. All three say they take pride in the Phoenix, and regularly do little tasks to clean up the place.

"If there's trash on the ground, we pick it up," Hodges said.

They were especially heartened by the presence of 12 teenagers from the Youth Volunteer Corps from Santa Rosa who worked at the Phoenix even though they had never attended a show there.

"It's cool people will come here and fix our building, " Hodges said.

In addition to music and skateboarding, teenagers come to the Phoenix for homework help, music lessons, a creative writing workshop and health clinic services.

Timmy Lodhi of Windsor is a Phoenix concert regular and his band, Bad Case, has played at the venue. At the last Phoenix show he attended, an announcement was made that volunteers were needed to help with the cleanup, and since Lodhi needed to perform community service, he offered to help with the project.

"I had to unscrew screws using a crowbar and then helped to bring new wood in," he said.

"The Phoenix is a really cool environment," Lodhi said. " It's peaceful."

Phoenix manager Tom Gaffey and volunteer building supervisor Larry Castellani are overseeing the work.

The Phoenix Teen Council raised $1,000 from a benefit concert to help defray the cost of materials for Clean Sweep.

Sunrise Rotary donated $425 and Rebuilding Together added $3,500. The Phoenix board of directors contributed $2,400. Clover Stornetta Dairy surprised volunteers by offering $500 after work began this week.

Since the labor is donated, including volunteer work by skilled carpenters and electricians, Clean Sweep cost far less than if the work was done by professionals charging typical fees, said Jane Hamilton, who is on the Phoenix board and helped coordinate the effort.

In addition to the new floor and wallboards, volunteers were going to paint over a back wall of the building and remove old, worn-out couches. As Hamilton explained, the center often receives donated couches in good condition, but because they are used so much they need frequent replacement.

"The point of this is so kids who come here to shows get the idea they have ownership and feel proud. We hope they feel really proud at the end of the week. This has been really cool," said Hamilton.

"Kids who come to the Phoenix all of the time are into taking leadership," she said.

Depending on how much work gets accomplished, Hamilton hoped the group might have time to steam clean the sidewalks surrounding the building by the end of the week.

Rebuilding Together is a nationwide group with projects in 236 communities annually, in which volunteer crews fix up homes for low-income and elderly residents and do maintenance and other upgrades for nonprofit organizations.

Carl Rebstock, director of the Petaluma chapter of Rebuilding Together, said the organization is taking a more active role nationally in year-round building rehabilitation projects, such as the Phoenix Clean Sweep.

Ten adult volunteers from Rebuilding Together were helping this week at the Phoenix.

Local businesses, including Bella Luma, Mary's Pizza Shack and Clover Stornetta, donated food, drinks and snacks for the volunteers.

Teens sprucing up Phoenix

Popular hangout getting new skateboarding floor, wall panels for graffiti artists to use for murals