Alice Cooper sets up Christian at-risk youth center in Phoenix, US

From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Alice Cooper, a founder of the shock rock genre, and infamous for his gory stage shows, is setting up a Christian center for at-risk youths in Phoenix.

Cooper, who has been a born again Christian for over 20 years, has already raised US$2 million for the center via his charity, the Solid Rock Foundation, founded by Cooper in 1995. "The Rock", as the center will be called, is expected to cost $7.3 million, and Cooper hopes that construction work will begin on the site, currently a grassy area near the Grand Canyon University, by November.

The land was donated by the university, which is Christian-based. The structure will cover about 29,000 square feet.

The center will aim to get teens in Phoenix off the streets. Alice explained the problem in an interview with Reuters: "Some of these kids just don't have a chance. All their environment does for them is teach them how to dodge bullets and be really good criminals."

The center will also attempt to make the youths interested in a music career as an alternative to crime, and will feature a recording studio and sound room, a concert hall, and a coffee house with a stage for performers. Cooper spoke of his confidence in the scheme's potential, saying "If you get a kid that's just as addicted to that guitar as he would be addicted to selling crack, it will change his life right then and there. I'm sure of that,".

Sources

• "Rock's "Prince of Darkness" sets up Christian center" – Reuters, August 17, 2007
• Stone Martindale "Prince of Darkness Cooper uses his rock power for good" – Monsters and Critics.com, August 17, 2007
  

Share this:

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable. Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators. Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections. Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.