Boys & Girls Club of Ridgefield considering $ 6.5 million addition
RIDGEFIELD – The Boys & Girls Club of Ridgefield is considering a $ 6.5 million expansion of its facilities which could be inaugurated by the end of the summer, pending local approval. Much of the additional space would be dedicated to the club’s sixth to 12th-graders population, which makes up about half of its members, according to BGCR CEO Mike Flynn.
“The club has been working for several years on expanding some of our facilities to meet growing needs,†said Flynn. “Part of it was connecting the governor to the project … and showing him the club as it is, the impact we are having on the kids in the community, where we are going in the future and hopefully. the, get some support. â€
After recognizing the city’s cultural district designation on Friday afternoon, Governor Ned Lamont visited the club alongside other state dignitaries. Former club member Annie Cozens and current club member Eli Keeler, Youth of the Year 2020 and 2021, respectively, acted as tour guides. Growing up at the club since childhood, Flynn said they saw it as their “home away from home”.
The approximately 13,000 square foot addition would be built from the club’s existing gymnasium and would include a new teen center, tween center, multi-purpose space and tech cafe, Flynn said. With the new space, administrators could reuse the existing clubhouse for programs, educational activities and counseling services and thus hire more members.
The goal, he said, is “to support the children in these formative years, socially and emotionally, but also to develop some of our most successful programs … which lead to a variety of other opportunities.”
Flynn said operating during the pandemic underscored the club’s need for additional space as more families depended on its services. The facility was last expanded in a fundraising campaign between 2006 and 2007, from 6,000 to 19,000 square feet.
The money to build the addition has been raised privately so far, Flynn said, but he hopes to get state financial support to reach the $ 6.5 million threshold. State Senator Will Haskell and Representatives Aimee Berger-Girvalo and Kenneth Gucker accompanied Lamont as the delegation works to bring “public investment” to the project, Haskell said.
“While it is wonderful to see an increasing number of families using the facility, they must now make the appropriate upgrades to accommodate and maintain the social and physical integrity of the club in Ridgefield,†said Berger-Girvalo in a statement. “I am convinced that (Lamont), too, sees how essential it is to support this community effort and, in turn, to support our young people.
“Visiting the Ridgefield Boys & Girls Club always makes me smile,†Haskell said in a statement, “(and the) expansion project would allow them to serve even more young people.â€
For more information about the club, visit www.bgcridgefield.org.