Youth clubhouse opens next month
Tom Maas Clubhouse in Paso Robles is now complete
– After a successful capital campaign that raised $3.5 million and a year of construction, the Tom Maas Clubhouse of The Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast will hold its ribbon cutting and grand opening celebration on June 15 from 4 – 7 p.m. at the site. Located at 3301 Oak Street, the facility will address a pressing and immediate need for the organization by increasing capacity and serving more local youth. In Paso Robles, the current club site has always had a long waiting list of local youth who could greatly benefit from BGCMCC programming. The waiting list demonstrates there is a demand for services and the Tom Maas building doubles capacity, giving the organization the ability to provide more programs and serve more kids and teens.
The new clubhouse includes the addition of more dedicated spaces. The new club site houses state-of-the-art program areas offering world-class programming that will truly transform the lives of youth members. These include an outdoor hydroponic garden, a culinary kitchen, and a STEM Lab. The new club site will primarily serve youth ages 6-12, which allows the current Flamson Middle School Club to be repurposed as a teen center serving ages 13-18. That site can serve up to 100 teens daily.
The clubhouse also has new administrative offices, allowing for staff expansion as programming increases, as well as a flexible space that can be used for events and community meeting space. The building is designed to be green, in an effort to be energy efficient and sustainable long term. Gene Runkle, chair of the building committee who has overseen the entire building project, shares, “My wife Sue and I are so proud to be part of a community who came together to ensure that the youth of Paso Robles has the services they need to thrive. The fact that we were able to build this amazing facility to help so many kids in a very difficult time for young people and their families makes this ribbon cutting so much more special. As a friend of Tom Maas, I know he would be so proud to see what he helped make possible.”
The Boys & Girls Club was chartered in 1995 in Paso Robles and is currently operating on the Flamson Middle School campus. The new clubhouse will be open for Summer programming and is taking reservations for youth in grades K- 5 now. Middle schoolers and high schoolers looking for summer programming can find opportunities at the Flamson Club in Paso Robles. Boys & Girls Clubs of Mid Central Coast is open to all children looking for a safe, high-quality after-school or out-of-school place to learn, have fun, and make friends. Applications for membership, information on scholarships, and other information is available on www.centralcoastkids.org or by calling (805) 922-7163.
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