When initial plans fell through for a teen center provided by the Boys & Girls Club of Benton Harbor, the organization geared up for Plan B. What it found was a location available with walking distance of Benton Harbor High School.
Ground breaking for a 20,000-square-foot teen center is expected this summer.
The new facility will provide a safe and positive environment during the hours when juvenile crime is at its peak and youths are unsupervised, says Doug Schaffer, executive director of the
Boys & Girls Club of Benton Harbor.The Teen Center will primarily focus on activities for high school youth in grades 9-12.
The building will have space for technology and academic support programs. Plans call for a 9,000-square-foot gymnasium with regulation-sized high school basketball court.
A traditional kitchen and café, a game room with computers, pool tables and ping pong tables, and an all-purpose space for performing arts programs all will be included.
Teens are excited about the idea of having a place designed just for them, Schaffer says.
A new main Club House also is in the works for the youngsters served by the Benton Harbor organization. The 28,000- square-foot building will sit on 3.5 acres in the Hall Park region of Benton Harbor.
Money for the teen center and for a new main club house raised over the past eight months now totals $5.6 million, about 80 percent of what is needed to build the two facilities.
The new buildings will make it easier for the Boys & Girls Club to participate in collaborations with other groups who serve youth, Schaeffer says
"Our goal will be to serve well over 100 youth on a daily basis during the school year," Schaeffer says. "Students won't be able to walk out of the high school without seeing this brand new facility geared toward them, right across the street."
Writer: Kathy Jennings
Source: Doug Schaffer, Boys & Girls Club of Benton Harbor
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