The Boys & Girls Club of Bainbridge Island is moving on to bigger and better things.
As in, more than 4,000 square feet of better things.
After serving more than 3,000 Island kids during the last 15 years, the Boys & Girls Club of Bainbridge Island will be moving into a larger space in May.
The move, officials said, will allow the nonprofit to serve more than double the number of kids it is able to serve now in a modern and kid-friendly facility.
The new facility is centrally located in the Coppertop Park, across the street from both Sonoji Sakai Intermediate School and Woodward Middle School, making it highly accessible to the families the club serves.
It will open to the community Monday, May 4.
The new facility encompasses 7,900 square feet, and it will allow for the separation of the club’s elementary aged-students (kindergarten through fourth grade) and the tween program.
“I’m just excited about the quality of our programs going up,” said Brooke Beals, the Bainbridge club’s executive director.
“It’s been in the works a long time. These kids on the island are great; they deserve the best,” she added.
Beals said parents were notified Monday of the move and that the response was “outrageously positive.”
Parent Kelly Snow said her three children are thrilled.
“I think that the kids are super excited,” she said. “The space that they have now is great, but it is small when it’s at full capacity. I think that it’s lived in. It will be great to have a new space that’s fresh.”
Snow also said she believes that the convenient location near a doctor’s office and other businesses is a bonus for busy parents. She plans to get her kids involved with ballet and rock climbing especially, something that wasn’t offered at the last location.
“There’s so many activities that are so close by that the club can get the kids to and help engage them,” she said.
Equally appealing about the new site is the fact that there will be separate rooms for different activities, including studying. Snow said her children often get easily distracted during homework time, and she thinks the new dedicated homework space will especially help her children.
“It’s exciting,” she said.
The current club is located in the Bainbridge Island Aquatic Center, where the club funded an expansion of the existing building, which is owned by the Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Park & Recreation District. The park district will buy back that part of the building from the club over a number of years, said Terry Lande, executive director of the park district.
Due to long-standing partnerships with the Bainbridge Island School District, Rotary Club and park district, the opportunity for a new location came to fruition in the fall.
As the Boys & Girls Club staff saw the club enrollment numbers growing, they also noticed the current location was getting a bit cramped.
By moving into the Coppertop Business Park, club staff hope kids will take advantage of the wide range of other activities offered by businesses inside the park.
While there will no longer be access to the aquatic center, Beals hopes club members will seize the opportunity to try new things like ballet or rock climbing.
It will also be a chance for the club to grow in its partnerships as well, Beals said.
“There’s a lot of really cool stuff to potentially maximize the programs we are offering for our kids,” she said. “Unfortunately, we won’t be able to take kids over to the pool for swim lessons.”
Swimming lessons weren’t originally a part of the programming at the club, but the current location makes it easier for parents to sign their kids out and walk over to the pool.
Over the next month, Beals noted the club will be seeking sponsorships to purchase furniture and other items for the new location.
Minimal renovations are needed at the facility, and staff members plan to host its annual club gala there in mid-April.
“It’s pretty much primed and ready to go for us,” she said.
Beals and her staff are planning for the possibility of a soft opening in May and then a grand opening soon after the program is settled.
There will be a slight disruption in programming as the club will be closed April 27 through May 1 for moving and staff training.
Programming will resume when the club opens again May 4.
Meeting coming
Want to learn more? An information night about the island’s Boys & Girls Club move will happen 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 24 at the current clubhouse located at 8521 Madison Ave. N.
