 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
 |
|
|||||||||
 |
 |
|
|||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||
 |
|
||||||||||
|
NEWS
by Meghan Tierney | Staff Writer (reprinted from The Montgomery Gazette) Wednesday, March 25, 2009 - It's been a long wait, but this fall the Germantown Boys and Girls Club should have its gymnasium, more than 10 years after local officials identified the need for more programs for youths in the growing upcounty.
The Germantown club, at the intersection of Route 355 and Middlebrook Road, opened at capacity with 197 children in 2002, four years after state and county officials initiated the project, according to Dickerson and published reports. Construction is to begin in April and last about seven months, Dickerson said. The gym will be an addition onto the building. "We were at capacity from day one … so this [expansion] was on the boards for 10 years," said Mark Avallone, chairman of the board's capital campaign. "A 10-year dream is being realized." Boys and Girls Clubs provide a safe place for youths to hang out and participate in positive activities outside of school hours. Members go on field trips, play in athletic leagues, receive tutoring and attend summer camps. "It's like we're a family, so even though you have your school life and your home life, you have this other family," said Kindra Nicol, 14, of Silver Spring, who credited her time in the club with making her more open to new experiences. "You create these friendships that last a lifetime." Jamaal Coleman, 17, of Germantown, said he first thought the club would be boring, "but now I come here every day." The gym was part of the original plans for the 8-acre site, and will feature an NBA-sized basketball court and a multipurpose room, Dickerson said. It is expected to cost $2.4 million, with about $1.2 million coming from the state, $500,000 from the county and the remainder from private and corporate donors. "I'm a product of the Boys and Girls Club," said Robert Scheer, president of Rockville-based Scheer Partners, one of the gym's corporate sponsors. As a youth, Scheer went to the Silver Spring Boys and Girls Club, the only other one in the county, every day after school. "When I had the chance to give back to the organization
that gave me so much, I was glad to do it," he said. "It
gives kids a place to go."
|
Ground
was broken March 19 for the 11,000-square-foot facility, which
will let the organization serve another 210 kids, said Marvin
Dickerson, president of the county board of the Boys and Girls
Clubs of Greater Washington.