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Hot Tubs USA employees bring in equipment Tuesday for three pool tables and a foosball table that were being installed at the Boys and Girls Club in Roseburg. After a yearlong closure in which the club operated at other sites, the club plans to reopen this Monday for the summer.
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ENLARGE
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Gary Wilfong installs light fixtures Tuesday inside the Casey Diemert Room at the Boys and Girls Club. The room is named after the former Roseburg race car driver, who died in a racing accident in California several years ago. The room will serve as a teen center at the Boys & Girls Club.
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Step into the new Boys & Girls Club of the Umpqua Valley like you step into Oz.
Outside, it’s Roseburg and parking lot and sheet metal on the walls.
Inside, the walls glow a bright green in the foyer, and step beyond the entrance into the realm of the kids, where no parents are allowed, and from room to Crayola-colored room, one’s orange and one’s purple and one’s blue and one’s yellow.
When the interior of the clubhouse was set for design, no primary color was left out of the box.
“We really tried to keep our costs as low as possible while still keeping the integrity of the kids’ space,” said Boys & Girls Club spokeswoman Haley Overton. “We didn’t invest much in a fancy exterior ... You’re investing in the kids, which is the future of Roseburg.”
Whereas partitions broke up the space in one large room, separate rooms will be available for art and computers and homework. The game room will still be a wide open area, with yet more room for pool and foosball tables.
Outside, it’s Roseburg and parking lot and sheet metal on the walls.
Inside, the walls glow a bright green in the foyer, and step beyond the entrance into the realm of the kids, where no parents are allowed, and from room to Crayola-colored room, one’s orange and one’s purple and one’s blue and one’s yellow.
When the interior of the clubhouse was set for design, no primary color was left out of the box.
“We really tried to keep our costs as low as possible while still keeping the integrity of the kids’ space,” said Boys & Girls Club spokeswoman Haley Overton. “We didn’t invest much in a fancy exterior ... You’re investing in the kids, which is the future of Roseburg.”
Whereas partitions broke up the space in one large room, separate rooms will be available for art and computers and homework. The game room will still be a wide open area, with yet more room for pool and foosball tables.
And the gymnasium is double the size, with brightly polished hardwood floors ideal for basketball.
The centerpiece of the revamped clubhouse will be the Kids’ Cafe, a little cafeteria with fast-food restaurant style seating and tableware donated by FCC Furniture.
The Boys & Girls Club has expanded its clubhouse with $3.3 million-worth of donations and grants and will be ready to open for summer day care on Monday morning.
It’s been a fast rise for the local Boys & Girls Club, which started out as an after-school program in February 2000 with 25 kids in the old Family Fun Center, which also housed Grand Slam.
“There were batting cages in there when we moved in,” said Melanie Clendenin, program and education director.
She said when they were chartered as a Boys & Girls Club in August 2001, they had 100 kids.
The centerpiece of the revamped clubhouse will be the Kids’ Cafe, a little cafeteria with fast-food restaurant style seating and tableware donated by FCC Furniture.
The Boys & Girls Club has expanded its clubhouse with $3.3 million-worth of donations and grants and will be ready to open for summer day care on Monday morning.
It’s been a fast rise for the local Boys & Girls Club, which started out as an after-school program in February 2000 with 25 kids in the old Family Fun Center, which also housed Grand Slam.
“There were batting cages in there when we moved in,” said Melanie Clendenin, program and education director.
She said when they were chartered as a Boys & Girls Club in August 2001, they had 100 kids.
If you go ...
The Boys & Girls Club will have its grand opening and ribbon cutting from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the clubhouse, 1144 N.E. Cedar St., in Roseburg.
Hot dogs, Pepsi and other refreshments will be served and tours of the club will be given. All are invited to attend. |
By the time they had closed the club at the end of last school year to make way for expansion, the daily ranks had grown to 250, pushing the old warehouse to capacity.
The new facility is designed for 350 kids. Executive Director Kris Besson said she expects the count for next school year will be down under 200 kids to start, since enrollment had to be cut back while the club was closed.
This past school year the club has been housed in three school locations: Phoenix School, Rose Elementary and Fullerton IV Elementary.
While programs for elementary school students will be given on a larger scale, Overton said the Boys & Girls Club hopes to provide opportunities for teenagers, who had been mixed up with the little kids before.
“We have a teen center,” Overton said. “Our teens didn’t really feel that they had their own space.”
Fees for club membership will go up to $24 a year. The day camps, which are already filled up for summer mornings will run $40 a week. But any kid can drop by from 12:30 to 5 p.m. this summer for no extra charge on top of membership.
“We know the kids will be excited about it, but we think that the community will be excited about it, too,” Besson said.
• You can reach reporter Chris Gray at 957-4218 or by e-mail at cgray@newsreview.info.
The new facility is designed for 350 kids. Executive Director Kris Besson said she expects the count for next school year will be down under 200 kids to start, since enrollment had to be cut back while the club was closed.
This past school year the club has been housed in three school locations: Phoenix School, Rose Elementary and Fullerton IV Elementary.
While programs for elementary school students will be given on a larger scale, Overton said the Boys & Girls Club hopes to provide opportunities for teenagers, who had been mixed up with the little kids before.
“We have a teen center,” Overton said. “Our teens didn’t really feel that they had their own space.”
Fees for club membership will go up to $24 a year. The day camps, which are already filled up for summer mornings will run $40 a week. But any kid can drop by from 12:30 to 5 p.m. this summer for no extra charge on top of membership.
“We know the kids will be excited about it, but we think that the community will be excited about it, too,” Besson said.
• You can reach reporter Chris Gray at 957-4218 or by e-mail at cgray@newsreview.info.
