New Boys and Girls Club half complete, seeking donations
BELOIT — The new Stateline Boys & Girls Club facility at 202 Maple Ave. is about half complete, with plans to move children into the new space in January.
As progress continues, Stateline Boys & Girls Clubs Capital Campaign Chair Jim Packard Jr. and CEO Mark Rand are calling on the community to help it raise the $150,000 remaining in its $5.5 million capital campaign.
“We are asking you to help us cross that finish line and be a part of that goal,” Packard said
“We would like to see that money come from a variety of sources with as many community stakeholders as possible,” Rand added.
While those with the campaign have benefited tremendously from large donations and are close to their financial goal, they are open to all sizes of donations from all people in the community and want to include as many people as possible in the project.
There are naming opportunities on rooms and corridors as well as an indoor donor board with different recognition levels for as low as $1,000. An outdoor donor wall by the flag pole with square plaques will be available for as low as $500. Those who wish to donate $10 or $25 or any other amount are also encouraged to do so.
“We just want to appeal to the public—whether they came here, or had kids who came here or they just believe in what the club does for the community,” Rand said. “No gift is too large or too small. Every gift is going to make an impact and help us not only reach our goal, but build a better community building and future for our kids.”
Ground broke on the new facility on April 5, and it’s scheduled for completion by the end of December.
“Our goal is to have some sort of ribbon cutting and grand opening in the last week of December and be open for kids the first day they go back to school after winter break,” Rand said.
The campaign can be followed on the club’s website www.statelinebgc.org/capital-campaign for updates or to make donations. For more information, contact Rand at 608-365-8874 or [email protected]. Any of the campaign members can be contacted regarding donations to the Capital Campaign.
Packard said those with the club wanted to do more community activities to drum up awareness of the project including picnics and events, but were somewhat limited due to COVID-19. They are eager to include the community as much as possible going forward.
The Stateline Boys & Girls Club is building its new Beloit facility at 202 Maple Ave., 1500 Shore Drive and a northern portion of 1459 Sixth St. across from Beloit Memorial High School.
The current Beloit building is on the far West Side of Beloit at 1851 Moore St. The focus will be for the new facility to be more centrally located along the Fourth Street corridor to be closer to community partners, in particular the Beloit Memorial High School’s student population. Not only will the new site expand its reach to teens, but will be more visible and accessible as it will be located on school bus routes.
The new facility would offer expanded STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities, increased teen programming and allow for increased capacity to reach more youth. The center also will allow for community collaborations for career exploration and cooking classes and more.
In a tour on Tuesday, Rand and Packard explained how the new facility will have enhanced safety features including video surveillance and two sets of doors at each entrance.
The new facility offers more space at 24,000 square feet compared to the existing facility at 16,000 square feet. It also will offer a large gym, bigger classrooms, more office and sports equipment storage space, kitchen facilities, teen center, patios areas, sound studio for kids to make music, playground and more. A teaching kitchen donated by Kerry Ingredients will be in the teen area where youngsters can learn about healthy eating and hone their culinary skills. The gym will be large enough to be split in half to offer two programs at the same time.
The teen center entrance will be on Maple Avenue with the main entrance off the parking lot on Shore Drive. With the added room for teens and new location, teens are expected to go from 20% of club membership to 30 or 45%.
Currently those with Gilbank Construction and subcontractors are working on masonry, HVAC and other mechanicals and will be starting to add drywall in the gym. The facility is located on 4.7 acres which will include areas needed to be cleared for soccer and football fields.
