CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Chicago City Council has approved construction of a new controversial Boys & Girls Club on the city’s West Side.
In an effort to give young people on the West Side more to do, an $8 million, 25,000 square foot youth development facility is being built in the 4400 block of West Chicago Avenue in Chicago's Austin neighborhood. There have been several shootings in that area in the past several weeks.
"Here in our city and across the country, Boys & Girls Clubs provide critical spaces and resources for young people to grow, thrive and chart out a successful path into adulthood," said Mayor Lightfoot, in a statement. "I am thrilled to have this opportunity to launch a new Club location on our West Side, which would greatly benefit young people living in historically disinvested neighborhoods, and I am looking forward to City Council's collaboration in making this project a reality."
Some residents, however, are not happy the center will be right next to a police training facility; a facility many in the area tried to stop four years ago, calling it a misuse of public funds while neglecting schools and social services.
A petition drive had been underway to stop the Boys & Girls Club and choose a different location.
The Boys & Girls Club is the most recent community-oriented project to be added to the 34-acre Joint Public Safety Training Campus campus at 4443 W. Chicago Ave and the first to be built in Chicago in a generation.
Two Black-owned restaurants, with a shared outdoor dining area, Peach’s and Culver’s, will open adjacent to the JPSTC main building by the fourth quarter of 2022.
The two to three-story Club building will occupy approximately 25,000 square feet of land that will be leased by the city for $1 per year for 55 years, with potential for two 10-year extensions. The lease agreement was introduced to City Council last month. It will have programming designed to help five to 18-year-olds transition successfully into adulthood.
Club construction could be completed in early-to-mid 2023 through the funding and support of Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago’s generous donors.
Founded in 1902, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago operates over 20 club sites in the city, serving nearly 20,000 young people every year. The last Club, the James Jordan Boys & Girls Club, opened August 1, 1995.
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