In a project that grew from a $150,000 budget for modular structures to a $3.2 million budget for a permanent clubhouse, the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Monica broke ground on the campus of John Adams Middle School (JAMS) on Thursday, September 11, for a facility that will open in June 2009 and serve 1,100 young people each year.
Because of the large number of people who commute daily to Santa Monica, as well as regional visitors, the Santa Monica club claims a membership of over 4,500 children, who participate in programs at its main clubhouse on Lincoln Boulevard and satellite locations on school campuses and two housing projects of the Community Corporation of Santa Monica.
The new clubhouse at JAMS will have a Technology Center, an Arts Center, an Education Center, and a Social Recreation Center. It will be open before and after school, during lunch, and during vacation and holiday periods – six days a week, 12 months a year – according to Boys & Girls Club of Santa Monica President Allan Young. The club will offer dance, theatre, and music, as well as a place to hang out and have fun, he said.
Major funding for the clubhouse at JAMS was provided by the Rotary Club as a “Century Project,” celebrating its 100th anniversary. The clubhouse project survived three SMMUSD superintendents, four Rotary presidents, and state regulations that would only allow modular structures for a life of five years or less, said Young, but now “we’re a week and a half ahead of [the new] schedule,” he noted.
