ALTON – iMerge Community Center has officially closed its doors.
Located at 200 W. 3rd Street in Alton on the first floor of the Riverbender Building, iMerge was focused on serving tweens and teens. The center was also available for rent for parties and events. Director Brigit Holt expressed her appreciation for the community’s support over the years.
“It was a wonderful experience,” she said. “To be able to come back, get to know the community and the youth in it, and to be able to offer them a place to hang out was a blessing, to say the least.”
Holt shared that she studied middle school-aged youth in college, and their brain development was always “fascinating” to her. She believes “it’s really important” for tweens to have “healthy and fun spaces” like the community center.
John Muller, co-owner of the Riverbender Building, echoed Holt. He expressed his commitment to keeping the first floor space as a community-focused venue.
“Really, the intent of the community center to begin with was to support the community,” he said. “We want that community center to be used for the community first.”
He added that iMerge’s focus was on middle and high schoolers, but going forward, he hopes to see the space used for “all people in the community,” including seniors, children and more. He emphasized that the owners aim to give back, not just lease space.
Holt said that iMerge will be donating some of the equipment they purchased for their esports program to local nonprofits. She thanked the building owners for their support and expressed her hopes that the space will be utilized to support the community in the future.
“They were supportive of us, so I really hope that they would be supportive of someone else coming in to do something similar,” she added. “It’s a great space. It’s an underutilized, wonderful space in Alton.”
Prior to iMerge Community Center, this space was operated by Riverbender.com Community Center, a nonprofit organization led by John Hentrich and a small group of dedicated volunteers. RBCC operated for over ten years and served thousands of teens and families.
“It breaks my heart to see the center closed,” Hentrich said. “I hope someone can step up to provide similar services to our youth in this location or somewhere in the Alton/Godfrey area. There are just not a lot of safe and affordable options for our teens who are at such a critical and impressionable stage of their life.”
For more information about the space at the Riverbender Building or to inquire about leasing, visit the official website at RiverbenderBuilding.com.
