Boys & Girls Club of the Muskegon Lakeshore to Purchase Lakeshore Fitness Center

The Boys & Girls Club of the Muskegon Lakeshore (BGCML) Board of Directors voted unanimously on Feb. 24 to approve the purchase of Muskegon Community College’s Lakeshore Fitness Center as the new home for its youth and teen Clubhouse. The news was shared by the organization today.

Two days earlier, the MCC Board of Trustees voted unanimously to accept the BGCML’s $1.17 million purchase offer, made by Chris A. McGuigan, who did not publicly share the organization’s name until its Board approved the purchase.

According to a BGCML release, the facility will allow the BGCML, which opened in 2015, to serve over 250 youth daily with evidence-based programs in three core pillars: Character & Leadership; Academic Success; and Healthy Lifestyles. Currently, BGCML has seven school-based club sites and three summer park sites annually serving 1,700 youth.

The 900 W. Western Ave property will undergo renovations to create a world class youth and teen Clubhouse to serve Muskegon County. The BGCML hopes to begin serving youth in the building within the next 90 days and to keep serving youth safely throughout the renovations.

“We were presented with this opportunity that would give us the ability to provide our Muskegon County youth their own Club space on the lakeshore in a very short period of time,” said D.J. Hilson, the BGCML Board Chair. “This has been a goal of our Club and our board since we began conversations about the Club in 2014.”

The Club’s number one priority for the Clubhouse is to serve youth and teens in our community, however, BGCML welcomes the opportunity to work with Muskegon residents to explore other possibilities for the space with community partners, according to Dakota Crow, the BGCML Chief Professional Officer.

“Keeping our mission – the kids of this community will come first,” said Crow. “That means their safety and their experience before all other things.”

“It has been said that good things come to those who wait,” noted MCC Board of Trustees Chair Diana Osborn. “This has been evidenced in the culmination of the sale and purchase of the Lakeshore Fitness Center.”

“Congratulations to CPO Dakota Crow, the current B&G Club Board, generous donors, and most importantly the youth who will benefit for years to come,” added MCC President Dale K. Nesbary.

More information can be found at www.bgclubmuskegon.com/clubhouse.