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Date: 10/31/2023
CHICOPEE — The Boys & Girls Club of Chicopee announced a $3 million capital campaign to construct a new 4,500-square-foot building at 580 Meadow St.
According to Marketing and Development Director Lynn Morrissette, this funding also includes the reconstruction of the Boys & Girls Club parking lot and outdoor basketball court.
“The teen center will offer a safe place for teens. It will give them areas like a study zone, digital media lab, zen room, club cafe and a gaming den,” Morrissette said. “There will be a large focus on workforce readiness, as we work to prepare them [teens] for their futures.”
The need for a teen center stems from research and community surveys.
“A new teen center will allow for more kids to be involved,” Morrissette said.
She continued, “The current teens have been involved in the brainstorming of the design process to ensure we hear what teens are looking for in a new teen center.”
Currently in the first of three phases, the parking lot is being reconstructed, costing about $725,000. The funds were committed to the club by the city of Chicopee, which determined this project to be worthy of an investment of American Rescue Plan Act dollars.
Morrissette noted that the city is not funding the entire project and there is a steering committee in place that is leading the fundraising for the project.
Phase 2 will include construction of a new, concrete full court and half court, replacing an old asphalt full court. Morrissette said this phase will begin after “substantial completion” of the parking lot and be somewhat dependent on the weather.
The cost of that project is $150,000 and is being funded by Community Development Block Grants through the city of Chicopee.
The court will carry the name of Police Officer Angela Santiago, in memory of her commitment to the young people in the city. Santiago, who served as Chicopee High School’s school resource officer, died in an off-duty motorcycle crash in 2020.
Morrissette shared that Phase 3 is the construction of the actual building. “We anticipate groundbreaking in late spring or early summer,” which is also dependent on the weather and previous phases, she said.
The entire construction is anticipated to last about seven to eight months.
The teen center will be called Haven, meaning a place of safety.