Boys & Girls Club to show off its addition

The Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line will express its appreciation to the Havre community and give visitors a tour of their new facilities Tuesday, Aug. 25, following the completion of the $1.7 million construction work on its building.

Among the additions to the old Devlin School building where the Boys & Girls Club is housed are new restrooms, a full-service kitchen, new office space, a larger, handicap-accessible foyer where people can drop off and pick up their children and a 4,000-square-foot multipurpose room.

“The whole purpose was always to serve more kids,” said Pam Hillery, president of the club’s board of directors, who said prior to the expansion, restraints on space forced the club to turn away many children and cap its membership at 200. Now, with the new addition, the organization will be able to increase that limit to 250.

“We’ve created a wonderful facility for them and the community,” said Hillery.

In the works for at least the past five years, the expansion was funded through foundation grants as well as donations from local organizations and businesses.

The new multipurpose room will afford the club space to hold its Festival of Trees. In the past, the club had to hold the annual December fundraiser in space provided by outside organizations.

Groups will soon be able to book the room for functions that take place on weekends and during hours when the club is not open.

Tim Brurud, the club’s director, said multiple organizations have expressed interest in booking the room, but the club still needs to craft guidelines for doing so. Brurud said a policy for those seeking to use the room should be made public soon, although he did not give a date for its release.

Although the hammering has died down, there is still work to be done. Landscaping still needs to be completed and construction will begin this fall on a new outdoor fitness park.

The evening of appreciation will be held Aug. 25 from 5 to 6:30 p.m at the Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line.