For years, it had been a dream of Burroughs Community Center Executive Director Kevin Simmons to expand the Black Rock facility to better service more children in the neighborhood and the city of Bridgeport.
Simmons tried everything and was successful at most levels. He chased numerous grants and often traveled to the Statehouse in Hartford to plead his case. The Burroughs Center had a number of successful fundraisers, including the famed “Freezin”™ For A Reason,” an event that saw hundreds of daredevils raise money by plunging into Long Island Sound in the middle of February.
Still, the dream remained out of reach until members of the local business community stepped up and pledged money for the project, particularly lead by philanthropist Joel Smilow of Westport. Now a brand-new facility stands adjacent to the Burroughs Community Center and held its official ribbon cutting several weeks ago.
Officials from the Wakeman Boys & Girls Club joined residents from the West End and Black Rock to celebrate the long awaited grand opening of the $7 million Wakeman Boys & Girls Club Smilow-Burroughs Clubhouse. The unique urban-suburban partnership has created a clubhouse that will bring Boys & Girls Club of America programs to more than 1,000 Bridgeport children in grades 3 through 12. Attending the celebration were Simmons; Smilow; Glen Staron, regional vice president, Boys & Girls Clubs of America; Mayor Bill Finch; Dick Galvin, chairman, Wakeman Boys & Girls Club Board of Trustees; John P. Donahue, president, Wakeman Boys & Girls Club Board of Directors; Joe Flatley, president and CEO, Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp.; Michael LaBella, market president, Connecticut TD Bank; Felipe Lopez, one of the best basketball players ever to come out of Saint John”™s University and hundreds of community well-wishers.
“With this grand opening and ribbon cutting, our work is just beginning,” said David W. Blagys, executive director, Wakeman Boys & Girls Club. “Our challenge now becomes raising the funds necessary to continue providing quality programs for the many generations to come.”
The clubhouse is a 23,000-square-foot building featuring a nearly 8,000-square-foot gym with seating for 250, a teen center, game room, arts and science center, technology center, community room, two learning centers, a café and kitchen, and a fitness studio for dance and exercise programs. Boys & Girls Clubs of America programming focuses on five areas: education and career development, character and leadership development, the arts, health and life skills, and sports, fitness and recreation.
Finch was particularly excited that the center is an entirely green building, designed to meet strict environmental standards. The clubhouse was designed and constructed to meet LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council and efforts are under way to apply for LEED Gold certification. The design is in tune with the mayor”™s goal to make Bridgeport the greenest city in Connecticut.
Wakeman Boys & Girls Club raised $7 million through a capital campaign to fund the design, construction and first year of operation for the new clubhouse. Smilow jumpstarted the fundraising for the construction of the building with a $1.5 million donation. The annual operating budget for the clubhouse is $600,000, all of which will be raised through private donations and grants.
To make a tax-deductible donation, checks payable to Smilow-Burroughs Clubhouse may be sent to David Blagys, Wakeman”™s Boys & Girls Club, P.O. Box 118, Southport, CT 06890.
Rob Sullivan is the publisher and executive editor of the Bridgeport Banner daily website ”“ www.bridgeportbanner.typepad.com ”“ and monthly print edition. He is a special correspondent for the Fairfield County Business Journal covering news and issues in Bridgeport and surrounding communities on the Sound.
