LA COSTA BRANCH OF BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS CLOSING -- BRESSI RANCH TO BE NEW SITE

By Glenn Hefley, La Costa Breeze

The Boys & Girls Clubs opened its doors in Carlsbad in 1952, the same year Carlsbad incorporated as a city. The population of Carlsbad at that time was about 7,000. After serving the growing community for 30 years, the organization opened a temporary mobile unit in La Costa on a lot offered by the Christ Presbyterian Church in 1982. For the next 23 years, with the population growing to nearly 40,000, with 62% of the households having children, the Boys & Girls Club is looking to restructure its facilities.

From reports, the La Costa branch, a 1,440 square foot mobile unit, never really kept up. The demands of the La Costa area put the branch in waiting-list mode almost as soon as the blocks on the trailer were leveled. The list continued to grow.

Currently, there are an estimated 15,000 children in Carlsbad between the ages of 6 and 18. That number is expected to double in less than 5 years.

The new Boys & Girls Club, whose opening is planned to be in 2007, will be an 18,000 sq. ft. facility on a 1.17 acre plot in central Carlsbad, bordered by Palomar Airport Road and El Camino Real. The facility will have a Technology Center, Learning Center, Gymnasium, Game Room, Teen Center, Arts Center, Music, Dance, and Aerobics rooms. The only expected feature the new Club will not have is a pool, but this is because it will be so close to the planned are of the new Carlsbad pool facility.

Total cost of the new Boys & Girls Club facility is expected to reach 6 million dollars. In the 52 years that the Club has been providing services to the city of Carlsbad, they have never asked for donations from the city. Recently, the city of Carlsbad approved a $500,000 donation. "It's a fantastic gift," said Ron Sipiora. Recently, local businessman John Tworoger of Aspen Properties, owner and developer of the soon-to-be La Costa Town Square, made a generous donation of $100,000 which is a great gesture showing his commitment to the local community. The land for the new facility in Carlsbad has been donated by Lennar Communities and Lehman Brothers Inc., and is located in the new Bressi Ranch Development.

The annual membership to join the Carlsbad branch is still only $25, which is far below other organizations of this type, and unlike many organizations for children, the Boys & Girls Clubs is strictly for children and not adults. In addition, no child has ever been turned away because of money issues.

The new facility is expected to supplement the current main club in downtown Carlsbad and to replace the temporary clubhouse in La Costa. This closing of the La Costa clubhouse is expected to happen when the new club is complete, sometime in 2007.

While it is true that the La Costa clubhouse was never meant to be anything but a temporary facility helping to support the growing area of La Costa, it is often amazing how temporary fixes become crucial elements in the communities around them. After 22 years, some growing pains are to be expected with the removal of the local La Costa Center.

Ron Sipiora suggested that the La Costa children wishing to use the new Boys & Girls Club will have bus support to get there from their schools, as they do now. Instead of going to the temporary trailer, they will simply go to the new facility instead. While this is true, the children will still be farther from their home area and neighborhoods.

The Christ Presbyterian Church will also be sad to see the Club close down. The La Costa Club has been there so long now; it feels like a strong part of their community. It was understood that the club was temporary and that eventually the church would expand and need the use of the land the mobile home sits on, but currently the Church has no plans for construction or expansion.