Opening of new Boys & Girls Club center delayed to next spring

CEDAR RAPIDS — Kids and staff with the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Corridor eagerly are anticipating the opening of a new center called the Busse Unit — but that opening is being delayed until next spring, months later than expected.

The center under construction at the intersection of Washington Avenue and 16th Street SE in Cedar Rapids, adjacent to First Congregational United Church of Christ, will be big enough to provide a safe haven for an additional 300 youths.

While the organization hoped to open the Busse Unit this summer, supply chain delays made that impossible.

“Not only will we be able to serve more kids, but we are really concentrating on providing teens dedicated space,” said John Tursi, executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs.

“Now you’re giving kids a lot of opportunities,” Tursi said. “When you talk about how you change kids lives, it’s about how often they show up, how long they stay and are they coming back to you year after year? We have that until middle school, then it’s hard to keep them.”

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Keeping youth involved with the Boys & Girls Club is about their connection to a trusted adult, Tursi said.

Lori Ampey, director of programming and outreach for the Boys & Girls Clubs, said she had “lifesaving” adults growing up who mentored her. She’s been continuing the tradition and working with the clubs for 26 years.

Ampey said “incredible things” at the Busse Unit will help children and teenagers “live out some of their passions and dreams.”

The 18,500-square-foot Busse Unit will allow the clubs to double the number of kids served. It will contain a gymnasium, cafeteria, game room, education center and science, technology, engineering and math lab. On the second floor, there will be a teen center, a teaching kitchen, an art room and a music room with a DJ booth.

The center is being named in recognition of the Busse family, who donated $2 million from its family foundation.

“We plan to have a teen council so teens will actually have a big say in creating what the teen center looks like and how we bring in our five core areas of health and wellness, service and leadership, arts, education and sports recreation and esports,” Ampey said.

In the meantime, the Boys & Girls Clubs are trying to provide as many opportunities to kids as possible.

This summer, Ampey has launched a Braiding and Barbers Hair Academy, working with local barbers and hairstylists to educate kids on hair care.

Their Career Academy program is taking fifth- to eight-graders to different companies in Cedar Rapids and Marion to explore career opportunities in the area, Tursi said.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Corridor is a youth development organization for 5- to 18-year-olds with programs to help kids and teens achieve academic success, model good character and citizenship and live healthy lifestyles.

It first opened as the Ellis Community Center in the 1990s. But the site was destroyed by the 2008 flood.

First Congregational United Church of Christ has been one of the sites for the Boys & Girls Clubs since 2004. It purchased the land adjacent to its building over the last five years with the goal of selling it to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Corridor. The church sold the land to the club for $50,000.

The Boys & Girls Clubs has raised about $9 million for the project from donations and was awarded federal funding under the American Recovery Plan Act from Cedar Rapids and Linn County.

“We’ve raised all the money we need to build a great Boys & Girls Club,” Tursi said. “Now it’s a matter of wanting the best.”

Donations can be made online at bgccr.org.

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