Boys and Girls Club construction continues
Framed by a partially completed window, a construction worker cuts pipe at the new Boys and Girls Club on Paxson Drive.
MOSES LAKE -
The exterior walls are up, the windows are roughed in and the shingles are going on the roof of the new Boys and Girls Club next to Park Orchard Elementary. The new club is still under construction, so it will be business as usual at the current location, 410 W. Third Ave., when school opens this week.
All Moses Lake elementary schools open Wednesday.
Executive Director Brant Mayo said there's no bus transportation to the club the first three days of school. "Parents have to get (their children) here and pick them up," he said. School bus transportation will begin Sept. 2.
Mayo said contractors haven't given him a firm completion date.
At the building site, the exterior framing is completed and the shell has been covered with a wood underlayer. The roof is on, with the tarpaper underlayer being installed.
The windows have been framed out but not installed. Interior walls have been framed and plumbing work is underway.
There's still to work to be done - the interior needs drywall and the exterior needs siding. There's still electrical and lighting, painting and flooring, tables, chairs, storage for equipment and supplies.
Mayo said most of the equipment going into the new building will be new too, and the bigger space should attract more kids. The staff probably will be expanded to accommodate more kids and more space.
And that space will be a lot bigger, about 10,700 square feet or almost twice the size of the existing space, Mayo said.
The new clubhouse will have a learning center for the homework program, an art and crafts room, a game room (activity center), a teen center targeted at middle school students and a small kitchen. A meeting room will be available for community rental.
The Boys and Girls Club is partnering with the Moses Lake School District, so the club kids will have access to the playground, gym, computer lab and play fields at Park Orchard, Mayo said in an earlier interview.
Once a moving date is set, Boys and Girls Club officials will announce a training and moving schedule, Mayo said.