It's been a long, challenging process, but hard work and persistence has paid off for the Michigan City Boys & Girls Club who have relocated to their new location at 321 Detroit Street, the former location of Elston Middle School.
"This has by far been the biggest thing we have done recently," said Boys & Girls Club of Michigan City Executive Director Brandi Lewis. "Everything about the new Elston location is an improvement from before."
Lewis credits the move to their new location as a drastic increase in size, allowing more room for activities and serving more young members of the Michigan City community.
"We've gone from our previous location of 4,000 square feet to our new location which is 24,000 square feet," said Lewis. "Everything has been repurposed, letting us do so much more now."
While the repurposing of the new location was a challenging process, it was all made possible through the combined hard work and dedication of businesses and volunteers who shared the same vision of bringing this new location to life.
"We have great partners in the school and the Michigan City community who understood the importance of this new location," said Lewis. "The vacant building hit the community hard so when they saw the opportunity to turn it into something useful, they jumped at it."
The B&GC Board’s decision to move to the Elston location came after careful evaluation and the eventual decision that the gain of space and close proximity was worth the move.
"The amount of space we knew we would gain was well worth it," said Lewis. "We were also only two blocks away from our old location so that made it even better. Everything pointed to the decision that this was the right next step."
A construction company was hired to do most of the reconstruction, with one of the major projects consisting of turning an old utility room into a kitchen to feed children. Everyone else, ranging from board members, community members, volunteers and kids helped with moving items to the new location, painting and cutting the grass.
"We're celebrating 20 years and able to show that by really reflecting what this new location has brought us," said Lewis. "The old location didn't really tap into the potential of what a community needs in a Boys & Girls Club. We are a home away from home and a safe space. The community gets it and we love that they can see the benefit we provide because after all, we are always ready to serve the needs of kids."