Fountain Valley : Boys and Girls Club Work Begins Anew

After a two-year delay, workers will resume construction of the future home of the Boys and Girls Club at Mile Square Regional Park this week.

Construction has been delayed because of unexpected work to stabilize the ground, lack of money and requirements attached to federal grants earmarked for the clubhouse.

Last week, the City Council approved a revised agreement on the use of the federal money for the $1.6-million project.

“It’s not a pipe dream anymore. In three months, we’re going to see a shell completed,” said Chris Schneider, executive director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Huntington Valley, which also operates a Huntington Beach club.

The city awarded the club $93,150 in federal money, and $19,000 of that amount has been spent on plans and designs. The remaining $74,150 was to go toward construction of the 19,000-square-foot building.

But the city’s agreement for the use of the federal grant required the club to post a performance bond ensuring that the building would be completed.

Bids received for the required bond were in excess of $24,000. Club officials did not want to spend the grant money for the bond but use it for the project itself.

The agreement also required that the city of Fountain Valley be named on the bond, but bond companies would insure only the club and the contractor, Schneider said.

“It was so restrictive that it was impossible to satisfy,” Schneider said. “We’ve been looking for other avenues for the last four months and couldn’t find any.”

The revised agreement allows the federal grant to be deferred and awarded to the club when the building is completed. It will then be used to construct the club’s parking lot.

Schneider said the council’s action means a performance bond is not needed and construction can start immediately.

“We’ve got enough cash on hand to put up the entire shell--the roof, walls, windows, doors--to build a totally secured facility,” he said.

This phase of construction is expected to be completed in three months.

The project has been on the drawing board for the last decade, and fund-raising has been in full force for six years.

Dick Cook, president of the organization’s board of directors, said that when the community sees the building finally rising, “people will realize it’s a sincere project. They’ve been looking at vacant ground for so long.”

Schneider said $1 million has been raised through individual donations, fund-raisers, corporate gifts and grants. So far, about $600,000 has been spent on foundation, grading and unexpected geological work on the site, off Brookhurst Street near the Cultural and Recreation Center. The geological work alone increased costs by $230,000.

Another $500,000 to $600,000 in donations is needed to complete the building’s interior and cover landscaping costs, Schneider said. If the money is raised during the next few months, the club will open by next spring, Schneider said.

The club is now at the vacant Arthur D. Nieblas School.