The City awarded a contract for the Area Four youth center late last week which will clear the way for construction to finally begin on the facility.

Cambridge awarded a $2,285,000 contract Thursday to Tocci Building Corporation of Woburn. A ground-breaking ceremony will be held during mid-March or early April to celebrate the beginning of construction, which is expected to last nine months, said Paul R. Ryder, director of recreation for the city.

Plans for the city-owned center came together two years ago in response to rising crime rates and complaints by residents that neighborhood children had no place to gather. Although Area Four has the highest number of children, it does not have an after-school recreation center.

The Youth Center, which will be built in Sennot Park bordering Harvard Street, will be a multi-service center with programs for all ages, though activities are primarily intended for Area Four residents and will be targeted at teens and preteens.

Educational, recreational and leisure needs will be met with programs such as violence-and substance abuse-prevention workshops, structured athletic leagues and outdoor trips, including those with the Harvard Outdoor Program, said Robert F. Goodwin, youth program manager.

Both a full-time and a part-time staff will operate the center four to five afternoons per week, said Goodwin.

In addition, a day-care program will be located in the basement and seniors will have programs in the morning and afternoon, said Jacqueline E. Clarke, co-chair of the Area Four Task Force and Area Four Youth Center Planning Committee.

For the last several years youth programs have operated out of a temporary center in the Maynard Elementary School.

"There was definitely a need for it in the neighborhood, but the department opted to work out of three local grammar schools [instead of a combined youth center] at that point," said Goodwin.

Unfortunately for Clarke, the Center will not be completed in time for her own children. When she began working for the youth center, her youngest child was 15. Now, her child is too old to use the center.

But Clarke says she is still working just as hard to ensure the center is built. "My motivation is to see something good happen in Area Four," Clarke said. "Kids in Area Four have been neglected."