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'A place that's our own' | Muskegon Boys & Girls Club welcomes public to new home

The organization closed this week on the building that used to be home to Muskegon Community College's Lakeshore Fitness Center.

MUSKEGON, Mich. — Kaylie Ostrander has been with the Boys and Girls Club of the Muskegon Lakeshore since it began in 2015.

"I’ve been a part of it since they started it at the Nelson Elementary School down in the basement where we only had a select few rooms that we were designated to," she said.

Muskegon County Prosecutor and Boys and Girls Club board chair DJ Hilson also remembers those days, as well as the growth that came in the years that followed.

"That has grown now to multiple sites across the county. For us it was really proving to Muskegon that the Boys and Girls Club of America was what it needed for its youth," Hilson said.

The community has bought in and the Boys and Girls Club has the numbers to prove it.

"We went from 30 members day one to 1,700 members today across the board, right across the county," said chief professional officer Dakota Crow.

But with that growth came a need for a home base that Hilson says the board was envisioning from the very beginning. That dream came to fruition this week when the Boys and Girls Club closed on its new home, the building which used to house Muskegon Community College's Lakeshore Fitness Center.

"There’s so many programmatic opportunities here, it’s amazing," said Crow who pointed out the building has a gymnasium and pool along with access to Muskegon Lake in the rear and bike trails in the front.

The public will have the chance to see the new building during a "first look" Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. You will need to sign up for a tour time on the organization's website to participate.

"We’re going to get the chance to give the community a look at what this space will be turned into," Crow said.

The tour will include renderings of what will be come cafeterias, a teen zone, recreation room, a STEM lab, and art studios among other things.

"We’re hoping to generate a lot of excitement from Muskegon County and the community because this is for them," Hilson said.

The Boys and Girls Club has raised just over $4 million of its $5.5 million dollar goal to convert the building into its clubhouse and it's accepting donations to reach that goal.

"We are extremely excited about this opportunity and we are not going to give up until this is a fully-functioning clubhouse," Hilson said.

Aside from the fundraising effort, staff and club members are going to be working until Saturday to make sure the clubhouse is ready for the public to see.

"Literally we just closed on the building May 11 so we’ve been hustling so hard all week, cleaning the building, getting it together," Crow said.

Ostrander and all of her friends say they've been doing landscaping work to help the effort and they know their efforts will have been worth it.

"The Boys and Girls Club means a lot to me. It’s like a second family. I’ve been a part of it for so long and I’ve watched staff come in, staff go out. I’ve watched new programs be added," she said.

"I’ve basically watched the Boys and Girls Club progress into what it is now. I am very excited. I can’t wait."

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