PORT ANGELES — Crews have prepared a site off Lauridsen Boulevard that will house a new clubhouse for the Port Angeles unit of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula.
Despite a “little setback” from the discovery of underground fuel tanks, Boys & Girls Clubs board member Norma Turner said the organization remains on track to open the $8.3 million facility before the 2020-21 school year begins.
“We’re on task to have it finished by the end of August so it will be open for the next school year,” said Turner, who is organizing the capital fundraising campaign.
“We’re motivated to get this done,” added Steve Deutermann, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula board president.
The 16,500-square-foot clubhouse will include a gymnasium and second-story teen center with a view of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Deutermann said.
It will replace the existing 7,000-square-foot clubhouse at nearby 2620 S. Francis St., which was built in two converted Peninsula Housing Authority residential units.
Organizers say the Boys & Girls Clubs unit has outgrown the current space where 145 children between 6-18 participate in after-school activities and eat meals at a cost of just $30 a year.
There were 209 children on the Port Angeles Boys & Girls Club waiting list as of Thursday.
“The need is very large,” Deutermann said.
Deutermann said the new clubhouse would be an “economic development engine” for Port Angeles because it will help attract families to the area.
“For working parents,” Turner said, “it’s something they can afford.”
“The kids get really good help, computers, homework and a meal.”
Turner said the clubs had raised $7.1 million as of Monday.
“Donations are going very nicely,” she said. “People are stepping up and contributing.”
The current clubhouse for the Mount Angeles Unit of Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula will be phased out when a new clubhouse is complete. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Two fuel tanks were discovered during construction of a retaining wall in October. It cost about $100,000 to remove the damaged tanks and to truck the contaminated soil to Oregon, Tuner said.
“No one knew they were there,” Turner said. “We were buzzing along and thought we were doing fine, and a couple weeks ago they found two more fuel tanks.”
Deutermann said the latest discovery resulted in the use of $50,000 to $60,000 in contingency funds.
“These things happen,” said Deutermann, who recalled that Olympic Medical Center encountered fuel-contaminated soil during construction of its Medical Office Building in 2016.
Deutermann said the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula will ramp up its fundraising campaign this spring.
“I’m positive we’ll be able to get there,” Deutermann said.
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula received $3.2 million in grants to help pay for the new clubhouse, officials said at the May 31 groundbreaking ceremony.
The club is leasing the land at the corner of Lauridsen Boulevard and Francis Street from the Peninsula Housing Authority for $1 per year.
To donate to the clubhouse project, click on the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula website at www.bgc-op.org.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
