The Vancouver Housing Authority and Boys & Girls Clubs of Southwest Washington have agreed to share the cost of the new clubhouse, envisioned as 13,000 square feet near the entrance to the development, at Council Bluffs Way and Wichita Drive, just off Andresen Road. At a Jan. 23 meeting, VHA commissioners expect to approve spending $1.5 million on the clubhouse, contingent on the Boys & Girls Clubs organization raising everything else it needs to build and operate the new clubhouse. VHA would own the building outright and lease it back to the Boys & Girls Clubs for 30 years, with extensions possible, at the nominal price of $1 per year.
The clubhouse project is expected to cost approximately $3.25 million, according to a fact sheet provided by Boys & Girls Clubs executive director Elise Menashe. The estimated annual operating expenses are $310,000. Menashe said her organization has barely begun its new fundraising campaign for this project.
The club would serve not just young people at Skyline Crest but the surrounding neighborhood, too. Menashe said it would cater to as many as 1,000 students at three nearby elementary schools with largely low-income populations: Harney, King and Marshall.
“There are not any other affordable daily after-school programs for the kids in the area,” she said. “We don’t want them home alone after school. We want to give them something positive to do.”