Ten years ago this month, Dan Mitchell began to bridge the gap between teenagers and God. That’s when he introduced The Bridge.

As a youth pastor for Christ’s Church of Oronogo, Mitchell knew something was needed to connect youngsters to the Christian hope and love available to all. That outreach venue was The Bridge, which opened its doors Sept. 8, 1999, at a vacant supermarket on North Range Line.

With support from his church and other area ministries, Mitchell reached out to teens through activities geared to their likes and lifestyles but on a low budget.

“When we started we had a batting cage, one skate ramp, one foosball table, one air hockey table, a climbing wall, two portable basketball goals, a stage and rooms in which to meet,” said Mitchell, who is not only the founder but also the president, CEO and youth pastor at The Bridge, which was replaced three years ago with a three-building, youth-mall complex at 3405 S. Hammons Blvd.

Today’s Bridge is quite a contrast to the original version.

One building is devoted to indoor skateboarding and BMX bike-ramping. The Autumn Ramp Park is a 20,000-square-foot facility that also has an equipment and apparel shop.

The Foundry occupies another building, which serves as a 7,000-square-foot concert hall. There is a good size performance stage, state-of-the-art sound and lighting system, juice bar, booth and bar seating, box office and pool tables.

Then, of course, there is the signature building anchoring the complex, The Bridge, which has 16,500 square feet on the ground level and 8,900 square feet of mezzanine. Found in this building are a caged court for basketball and volleyball, a 40-foot climbing wall, concessions, Internet cafe and video game and network arcade.

This $5.1 million project became a reality when John Hammons, hotel owner and commercial property developer, donated 60 acres to The Bridge. By the way, during the four-day grand opening, an estimated 10,000 visitors showed up and were assisted by 371 volunteers.

“We have experimented with a lot of things as we have grown and we know now that why we exist is to bring the best of God to teens, and there is no other reason,” Mitchell said. “There is not anything in there that is sacred. What is sacred is what the teens want to do on Friday and Saturday nights.”

The Bridge building is open from 6 to 11 p.m. on weekends with The Autumn Ramp Park available Tuesday through Saturday. The Foundry serves as a concert or special-events site.

“With these three, we have dedicated facilities for skaters, junior-highers, and high-schoolers,” Mitchell said. “What is so cool about what God has done here is that we can dedicate space to junior-highers (The Bridge), high-schoolers (The Foundry) and all ages, sixth through 12th grade, at the skate park. Although we are not totally there yet, we are clearly headed in that direction.”

Mitchell’s original vision has indeed come a long way.

“Really what we were when we started was more like a community youth group,” he said. “We made a course correction and decided that we were going to try and reach the kids who don’t have a church. Our numbers have not really grown. We have always had tons of kids coming but the numbers of kids who are unchurched coming here now are astronomical compared to those who are churched. And that is why we are here.”

Mitchell compared the teens’ activities to their internal belief systems.