Clubhouse preps for summer construction

By Peter Murphy and Bill Schutt 
Bengal News West Reporters

The 60-year-old Butler-Mitchell Clubhouse has seen better days with outdated classrooms, no air conditioning and ceilings falling down.

The clubhouse at 370 Massachusetts Ave. will undergo a $650,000 reconstruction project. Phase one will start in July with the gymnasium and in October phase two will close the doors on the Boys and Girls Club until January 2015.

“The footprint of the building will not change,” said Tim Brennan, the chief development officer of the Boys and Girls Club. “The building will be gutted to create more space inside for our children.”

Tim Brennan, on project specifics:

          The Butler-Mitchell Clubhouse was built in the early 1950s and is the second oldest Boys and Girls Club in the area. The clubhouse needed renovations, or it was in danger of being closed, said Brennan.

The gymnasium’s paint is chipping and the ceiling is falling down. New York State determined that children under the age of 12 should not be in the gym until it was fixed, said Brennan.

In October, when phase two begins the remaining building will be gutted.
“Plumbing will be addressed first,” said Jody Briggs-Garcia the resource development coordinator of the Boys and Girls Club. “We are limited now to the number of children we can serve based on the amount of urinals and sinks we have, but after the renovation we will be able to increase our average daily attendance.”

Currently, Butler-Mitchell serves 76 children on a daily basis and 300 children a year, but after the renovation the club expects to serve 120 children a day and over 500 children a year.

The construction company to work on the renovation for the clubhouse has not been decided yet, but bidding will begin shortly, Briggs-Garcia said.

New windows and larger access will be added to the entrance

The front of the clubhouse will change during renovation. The entrance will be larger to support more children. The front window will be larger, and a security system with extra lighting will be added to the entrance to provide a safer environment for the children coming and going throughout the hours the club is open.

The Boys and Girls Club has raised $440,000 so far, $150,000 coming from a state grant, which will be used to begin renovations on the gym. Phase two of the project will begin in the fall when the club hopes to raise the remaining $210,000 Briggs-Garcia said.

During phase two, the whole club will be shut down, but the Boys and Girls Club will provide transportation for children of the Butler-Mitchell Clubhouse to some of the other clubhouses in the area.

“We would end up working with our other clubs where we could actually transport our kids that come here to another clubhouse,” Briggs-Garcia said.

There are several clubhouses in the area, the closest being the John F. Beecher Clubhouse on Tenth Street. The John F. Beecher Clubhouse is a possible relocation for the children of Butler-Mitchell, but where the children end up could vary.

“It’s going to depend on what we’re able to coordinate from this end. It’s going to depend on how many kids are registered and where their parents want to send the children. Some parents might say ‘my kid will take a break for a little while.’ For our working parents, and we have a lot of them, they might say ‘transport them somewhere else because we need a program,’” said Briggs-Garcia.

After phase two is completed the children of the clubhouse will have air conditioning for the summer months, and a new reception area when they enter the building, said Briggs-Garcia.The kitchen also will be modernized and become a learning kitchen where the meals and snacks will be served daily, and nutrition classes will be offered to the children.

Classrooms will be outfitted with new technology

The children will also have more modernized classroom facilities. The current classroom at the clubhouse is outdated and after the renovations, new computers and tablets will be added to the club.

“We want to teach the kids how to use tablets and smart boards,” Briggs-Garcia said. “We want the kids to be on the cutting edge, when it comes to going to school or getting a job.”