MUSKEGON, Mich. — 13 ON YOUR SIDE was granted an exclusive sneak-peak inside the ongoing work at the Boys & Girls Club of the Muskegon Lakeshore.
The group impacts the lives of hundreds of children on a daily basis, but, now upward of 50 years old, its West Western Avenue headquarters no longer effectively served the growing organization’s needs.
The multi-million dollar renovation announced in 2022 promised to transform the aging building into a purpose-built space, complete with modern technology and infrastructure to support its programming.
In addition to the building in question, the Boys & Girls Club maintains six satellite sites in conjunction with local school districts and also operates the Neil Fitness Center, which adjoins its headquarters on West Western.
Renovations to the building’s façade continued during Wednesday’s walk-through, which featured a group of club administrators, local leaders and others who remarked on the pace of progress ahead of the project’s estimated fall completion date.
The overhaul, CEO Monica Turnbull remarked, would serve to further the group’s mission:
“Right now, we serve between 200 to 300 youth per day,” she noted. “Once we open this building, we'll be able to double that capacity.”
“It's amazing that we can have this right here in downtown Muskegon accessible to our youth in the neighborhoods of the youth that we serve. And we're right here and we're going to be part of it.”
Once complete, the revamped facility will include:
- STEM Lab
- Climbing Wall
- Teen Lounge
- Aquatics Center
- Artists’ Studio
- Game Room
- Quiet Spaces
- Cafeteria
The Muskegon Boys and Girls Club getting upgrades
In addition, the scope of work included various structural and functionality-minded updates.
The original 1970s boiler system, the tour noted, had already been replaced with a state-of-the-art geothermal alternative.
Various energy-efficient upgrades were also undertaken throughout the facility as work proceeded.
Club programming remained in place for the duration of the renovation work, but was moved to several temporary satellite sites as construction formally got underway.
The new-and-improved Boys & Girls Club, Turnbull estimated, would open to the public around Labor Day with the beginning of the school year.
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