For the littler folks, there’s a straightforward, ground-level entryway. For teens, there’s a zigzagging and altogether too-cool-for-school staircase to the second floor.
Both ways in aim to lead local youths to safety, education and a better future.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Southwest Washington reopened its Parsley Center location Wednesday evening after closing it for remodeling and expansion 10 months and $4.4 million ago.
The old club was 12,000 square feet on one floor; the new club is 26,000 on two. It has impressive new facilities and a new name: The O.K. Clubhouse and Teen Turf Club.
Upstairs, for teens, there’s a sprawling recreation area with billiards and foosball tables and a big-screen TV. Conference rooms, a music studio with piano and guitars, a quiet study area and a kitchen line the outside. Downstairs, there’s an art studio, science room, library, classrooms of various sizes — even a new gymnasium space.
Clark County Sheriff Garry Lucas, a member of the club’s board of directors, said he’d been struck by the response of one child when asked why join the club: “Because it’s the only safe place to be.”
Data shows that most juvenile crime takes place after school, Lucas said. After the first local Boys & Girls Club in Hazel Dell opened, there was a 40 percent drop in juvenile crime within a one-mile radius, he said.
The O.K. name came from major beneficiaries the Olivas — Steve and Jan — and the Kearneys — Lee and Connie. You can visit the new club on the web at: http://www.mybgc.org/ok_club.html.
It’s in the Bagley Downs neighborhood at 4100 Plomondon Street.
