A Breath of Fresh Air at the Boys and Girls Club

 BDCC joined forces with the Brattleboro Boys and Girls Club in 2021 with a Community Facilities Technical Assistance grant for a feasibility study looking at near-term building upgrades along with exciting long-term ideas like a rooftop basketball court and raised beds. An immediate need for HVAC upgrades became clear – which also involved major roof repairs so that the building could physically support a new rooftop HVAC unit. 

The building had to be closed to program participants for long stretches during this work. However, as Executive Director Michelle Simpson says proudly, the Boys and Girls Club has forged strong partnerships with “every youth organization you can think of,” along with other nonprofits like the River Gallery and HatchSpace that aren’t strictly youth focused but can offer engaging opportunities for the kids. These partnerships enabled the Club to move its programming off-site during building repairs and serve the same number of youth. 

Concurrent with HVAC upgrades, Simpson has also been working on finding an operator for the indoor skatepark that is part of the Club’s building. The building itself was originally a parking garage, and cycled through various nightlife uses before becoming the Boys and Girls Club in 1999. As part of the Club’s operations, the skatepark can only be used by Club members, so Simpson is seeking an independent operator (likely a nonprofit) to take over the space and open it up to the wider community. “It’s a great asset, especially for the winter months,” she says. “I’ve talked to skatepark operators in many other communities, and it can really contribute a lot to a town’s vibrancy.”

As of September 2023, the Club has reopened with healthier air, a stronger (drier) roof, and shiny new ductwork. The next projects Simpson hopes to take on involve kitchen improvements in order to be able to do in-house food service for the youth, with a longer-term goal of doing cooking classes.