Boys & Girls Club seeks donations for construction

Officials with the Boys & Girls Club of Western Nevada are intensifying their fundraising efforts to help pay for construction of a new headquarters.

"We've never turned down a check," said Hal Hansen, chief professional officer of the club, noting the cost for this building is separate from other expenses.

Stepped-up fundraising to provide for routine operations and the new facility might prove confusing to some, but it's necessary, he said. Cost for the building project will be roughly $5 million, but club officials have raised just $2.8 million so far.

The club has an operating budget of about $1.5 million each year and "the board has to raise $400,000 of that just to get by," Hansen said.

Canddle Development no longer wants to build affordable senior housing it had planned on the four-acre site the club owns at Russell Way and Northridge Drive. A new buyer is being sought. The land is expected to sell for slightly less than $2 million, but even that leaves another $500,000 more needed to fully finance construction of the new building on Russell Way, according to Hansen.

A 12,700-square-foot building and a grass athletic field comprise this part of the project. A gymnasium roughly the same size as the building now under construction is the next facility the club wants to build, he said.

Their current 7,200 square-foot building in the 600 block of South Stewart Street is leased from the state. It's slated for demolition once the club moves out. The club's target relocation date is spring or summer, Hansen said.

More than 200 youths are served daily by the club during the school year. And that number exceeds 500 during summer months, when the kids can spend a lot of time outdoors. Youths served by the programs come from families representing various economic levels, he said.

"We don't actively recruit members, there's no need," he said. "But I'd love to recruit new members, to accommodate 500 youths (a day) during the school year."

As a way to illustrate how crowded the club's current headquarters are - and to drum up donations - club officials plan to conduct tours of both facilities so people can see the difference.

For example, "the new building has 20 bathroom stalls, we only have four now," Hansen said of the building, which is roughly three-quarters of the way completed. "The kids were real excited about that."

There are plans to provide some services in the Carson Valley, where programs can be provided in area schools. And locally, club officials would like to offer more space to accommodate teen offerings but will have to settle with what the new building provides - at least for the immediate future.

"We'll take gifts of any size, and we're open to in-kind offers," he said.

Call 882-8820 to find out more.

• Contact reporter Terri Harber at tharber@nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111, ext. 215.

You can help

Call 882-8820 to find out more about donating to the Boys & Girls Club of Western Nevada.