The meth lab is gone, the entertainment center is installed, and teenagers looking for a hangout now have a new place to go.

The Salvation Army's teen drop-in center, located in a tall white house at 120 Seventh Ave. S.W., marked its grand opening Friday with tours, a dedication ceremony and a barbecue.

Known as the DMZ because it's meant to be a safe place in a dangerous world, the center offers both entertainment and education for any teen who happens to drop by.

There's a sitting room with overstuffed chairs and a fireplace just inside the door, a quiet place to kick back and chat or think. To the right is a small library and computer lab with an Internet connection, where visitors can do homework. To the immediate left is a kitchen, where meals will be served daily at 5 p.m., said Salvation Army Capt. Stephen Sutter.

And once past the kitchen, the real fun begins. One room featured foosball and a pool table; another, a television with a 58-inch screen.

"That'll be nice to watch a game on," 17-year-old Matthew Frame said with approval. Music blasted from the speakers as two girls used the screen for a quick round of "ATV Offroad Fury 2."

Sutter said his agency picked the house partly because of its former drug connections, along with its proximity to the Albany Skatepark across the street. The idea is for the presence of a drug-free, peaceful hangout to help counteract any illicit activity that the area otherwise might draw.

The DMZ's purpose, Sutter said, is to be a comfortable place for school-age teens who need a place to go. If they just want to watch TV, that's OK. If their needs run deeper — homelessness, drug addiction, abuse — the hope is they'll feel comfortable enough to make a connection with a caring adult who can get them to the services they need.

"We're just trying to make a connection," Sutter said. "What we're really trying to do is establish relationships. It's about getting these kids hooked up with people they can respect and listen to."

The Salvation Army needs more of those adults, he added, both to volunteer at the center and to offer professional expertise for vocational training. Financial contributions are also helpful, he said.

Rachelle Freeman is one of the volunteers who helped get the center ready to go. She said she'd like to stay on, partly because she knows firsthand what it means to have a place of safety.

Freeman said she herself was a runaway and in and out of foster care. Her Oregon hometown, Dallas, didn't have a center like the DMZ.

"I think it makes a difference to have a place to go," she said.

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The Salvation Army is one of the 25 partner agencies that receive funding from the United Way of Linn County. The United Way has just begun its most recent fund-raising campaign, and has $23,151 of its $800,000 goal.