NEENAH — The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Fox Valley Inc. will start construction of a 35,000-square-foot Neenah club in September.
Plans call for the $13 million facility to be finished by July 2025. It promises to serve 1,000 Neenah boys and girls, ages 6 to 18, annually starting with the 2025-2026 school year.
"We've been hoping and planning to develop a presence in the Neenah community for some time," Greg Lemke-Rochon, CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Fox Valley, told The Post-Crescent. "Our niche and focus is to provide critical, positive youth development programs and services for all kids, but especially those with unmet needs."
The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Fox Valley was started in 1998 with the opening of a youth center in downtown Appleton . Its Menasha club opened in 2015 and was expanded in 2020 , and its Manitowoc club opened in 2022. The Neenah club will be its fourth standalone center.
In addition, it operates from a dozen school sites.
Fundraising campaign goes public to raise final $3 million
A fundraising campaign for the Neenah club began privately in April, and more than $10 million of the $13 million has been committed to the project. It's now gone public. The fundraising campaign is being led by John Bergstrom, executive chairman of Bergstrom Automotive, and his son Tim Bergstrom, CEO and president of Bergstrom Automotive.
Donations to the nonprofit project can be made online at www.bgclubfoxvalley.org/neenah-club-capital-campaign .
John Bergstrom said Neenah, the second-largest community in the Fox Cities, has a growing need for youth programs and services.
"We see the same problems that we have had historically in Menasha and before that Appleton," Bergstrom said. "We want to give these young people a chance where they can have good mentors, have a safe place, get a meal, get training and be with other young people in a quality facility that will take good care of them."
What will be included in the Neenah Boys & Girls Club?
The youth center will be built on a 3.5-acre property at the northwest corner of Byrd and Marathon avenues. The site was purchased in April and is located north of the Neenah police station and Neenah skate park.
The development will be similar to the Menasha Boys & Girls Club and will include the following features.
- Full-size gymnasium
- Commercial-grade kitchen and cafeteria
- Large game room
- Three learning centers
- A makers lab for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) activities
- Art rooms
- Teen lounge and café
- Life and workforce readiness center
- Dance studio
- Sensory room
- Family conference room
- Staff lounge
- Outdoor playground
What services does the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Fox Valley provide?
Lemke-Rochon said the organization offers academic enrichment programs; visual and performing arts programs; sports, fitness and recreation programs; character and leadership development programs; health and wellness programs, including free meals; and youth workforce development programs.
It further offers licensed professional counseling services to support youth and families’ mental, behavioral and emotional needs; a program for youth who face housing insecurity; a center for grieving children; a truancy reduction and assessment center; and a STAR (Scholars on Target to Achieve Results) program to support Black students in the Fox Cities.
"We served over 16,000 kids in 2023," Lemke-Rochon said.
The organization obtains funding through government contracts and grants (56%), fundraising activities (40%), program service fees (2%) and the United Way (2%).
Contact Duke Behnke at 920-993-7176 or dbehnke@gannett.com . Follow him on Twitter at @DukeBehnke .
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Construction of $13 million Neenah Boys & Girls Club will begin in September
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