Boys & Girls Gardner Clubhouse opens at Elm Street School

GARDNER — The Boys & Girls Club of Fitchburg and Leominster Gardner Clubhouse has a new home. After several years at the Gardner Middle School, the afterschool youth development program has moved its base of operations to the vacant Elm Street School.

“This means a bigger space, more room to run programs, we can welcome more kids,” said Alyssa Corrigan, Gardner Juniors Program Director, who added that the program had been capped at 50 members while the Gardner Clubhouse was located inside the library at the Gardner Middle School. “We didn’t always have access to the gym, we couldn’t go outside – we were very limited.”

The Gardner Clubhouse was started in 2015 as a pilot program launched by the Boys & Girls Club of Fitchburg and Leominster. The Club takes place every day after school until 6 p.m.

Additional options to include tech lab, art room and game room

With the space for additional programs, Gardner Clubhouse officials hope to offer features that include a tech lab, a games room, a homework room, and an art room, according to Corrigan.

In addition to occupying the entire basement level of the former Elm Street School, the Gardner Clubhouse’s volunteers and members will now have access to the building’s gymnasium, auditorium, and outside playground area at 2 p.m. each day, after students of the Gardner Academy for Learning and Technology have left for the day

The Gardner Clubhouse now has a kitchen area dedicated to healthy habits, according to Corrigan.

“Before, I was bringing in my air-fryer from home and stuff,” she laughed, adding that the new location opened up a world of possibilities for members. “I want to start a drama club, because we have a stage in the auditorium.”

More: PHOTOS: Boys & Girls Club has a wild adventure

Elizabeth Coveney, chief executive officer of the Boys & Girls Club of Fitchburg and Leominster, said she was grateful to city and school officials for their efforts in moving the Gardner Clubhouse to the former Elm Street School building.

“We were limited to the middle school library, so we had a very small space, and no space to really get into arts and science and music and robotics, and all that good stuff,” Coveney said. “But having this space afforded to us? We now have a full art room, a full tech lab, a music room, a playground, a gym, a theater, everything. Suffice it to say, the new growth is exponential from where we were.”

More: Boys & Girls Club members chat with former astronaut

Club is looking to grow membership

The goal was to have 100 student members, from grades K through 8, at the Gardner Clubhouse in the near future, said Coveney.

The reaction from parents to the Gardner Clubhouse’s new digs has been overwhelmingly positive, Coveney said. She added that the program was in the process of training several volunteers to help keep things running smoothly at the clubhouse.

Coveney called the Gardner Clubhouse a place of respite for students who were looking for another outlet for their talents and their interests.

“Some play sports, some are in the band, but they can also have this clubhouse as a social haven and an extension of their learning,” she said. “It’s a place to go where they have friends, so they can do a little bit of socialization but also reinforce what they’re building in school.”

More: Five things to know about Gardner's new elementary school

More important than ever

Coveney said afterschool programs, such as those offered at Gardner Clubhouse, were more important than ever after the past two years.

“It’s so important that we provided peer mentoring and leadership, and an outlet for kids to connect,” she said. “We need to bring kids back and welcome them back into the world and into society.”

Gardner Clubhouse officials had scouted several potential locations in the city, including Prospect Street School, Waterford Street School, and the Helen Mae Sauter building before deciding that the former Elm Street School would be most suitable for their needs, according to Mayor Michael Nicholson.

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: The Boys & Girls Club relocates Gardner Clubhouse to Elm Street School