Boys & Girls Club of Brookings: Out of space

Members of the Boys & Girls Club of Brookings take advantage of a designated homework time after school last week. Since it opened in 2003, the club has grown from an average daily attendance of 76 to one of 350-400. It has plans to expand its building in order to better serve Brookings’ youth. Photo by Charis Prunty/Register

• More focused programming, greater demand calls Boys & Girls Club to expand

BROOKINGS – Nine years after it opened its doors, the Boys & Girls Club of Brookings (BGCB) is looking for a third time to expand its space. A 34,400-square-foot facility built in 2007 can’t serve its growing membership with the more focused, results-oriented programming the club now uses.

In October 2003, BGCB opened next to Cinema 5 on west Sixth Street with 204 members and an average daily attendance (ADA) of 76. It soon expanded to two storefronts there. In 2006, with an ADA of 171 in the summer, BGCB had to put a moratorium on membership because it couldn’t hold more youth.

In 2007 it moved into its current building next to Mickelson Middle School. By 2009, with an ADA of 294 in the summer, the club’s board discussed another moratorium.



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