The 2,500 teens that come into the Kirkland Boys & Girls Club Teen Center each year understand the need for a larger space.
Doug Wozeniak, executive director, describes the 500 square foot space as so small that the teens are nearly “packed and crawling on each other.”
After walking through the space, several community members also realized the need for a larger Teen Center and have stepped up to support the club’s expansion efforts.
“The neatest thing for us when we started this (project) is the response from the community,” said Wozeniak. “We’ve had all these vendors who’ve said ‘don’t send us a bill.’ It’s been an outpouring of support that’s been really neat to get this done.”
Chris Gayte, founder and president of Jet City Development, came into the office last year looking for a way to give back. After a walk through the club, he was so interested in assisting the non-profit organization that he secured in-kind donations to renovate the Teen Center.
Jet City Development helped to gut the showers in the changing area that will add 1,000 more square feet to the Teen Center. The company will also add tempered glass garage doors; renovate the existing restrooms; install a commercial water tank and add a stand alone shower stall in a custodial room.
In addition, the Kirkland Rotary has pledged a $25,000 gift toward the rebuild project.
Wozeniak said the Kirkland Boys & Girls Club has raised about $45,000 towards the project’s $110,000 Capital Campaign goal, which includes program funding.
The rebuild
When Wozeniak started at the club eight years ago, the space that now houses the teen center was a storage room. Though the storage room was transformed into a small Teen Center, “You can see that it doesn’t do justice,” said Wozeniak, looking around the confining room on a recent afternoon. “When you show donors and board members and people who come into the club and they’re just like, ‘okay, you just hide your teens back here?’ It’s kind of scary.”
To create even more space for Kirkland teens, the club launched its Capital Campaign and renovation work began in April. The old shower room will house the new 1,500 square foot center, which will be stocked with a 50-plus inch plasma TV, state-of-the-art surround sound, video games and activities (including Nintendo Wii, Rock Band, ping pong and foosball), music, computer stations, a temporary stage for open-mic nights, a game room and more.
The converted space will also allow the club to launch a new partnership with Youth Force. The program enables teens to complete a resume, research and prospect viable jobs, fill out job applications and teaches teens interview techniques.
“I’ve been trying to be real organic in this,” said Wozeniak of the project. “I don’t want to tell the teens what has to be in here, we want them to decide.”
The Kirkland Boys & Girls Club runs about 40 different athletic programs and 100 character and building programs per year. The club, which has close to a $1 million annual budget, serves 2,500 kids annually.
Wozeniak says the club’s Teen Night is a large indicator that teens in Kirkland need more space.
During the first Friday of every month the entire facility is closed down and reserved for teens only (grades 7-9). These nights include a DJ, music, dancing, food, basketball, movies, social recreation and interaction. The club averaged between 100-150 teens during the 2006-2007 school year and in 2008, those numbers have increased to about 250 teens.
Work is expected to be complete some time in July.
For more information about the Kirkland Boys & Girls Club, visit www.onepositiveplace.org or call 425-827-0132.
