The long-awaited teen-only space is officially open.
The Club, a branch of the Boys and Girls Club of Cochrane and Area(BGCCA), has opened its doors this week for teens to drop in after school for no charge and to register for activities such as cooking classes.
There isn’t any other designated place in town that focuses on just teens, said Jill Bilodeau, executive director. Most especially not between 2 and 6 p.m. (after school hours) where teens don’t necessarily have a productive and positive place to be.
“There is no space for teens to go during those critical hours,” Bilodeau said.
“This gives us the ability to program just for teens, and they don’t have to worry about all the admin being there and we have the capacity to program whenever and however we feel the teens are needing because we have the space.”
It was only a year ago when teens of the BGCCA gathered for a meeting to visualize an ideal space for them, and it seems The Club, located in the old Big Hill Pizza and The Hideout Pub building, will deliver.
The space, completely gutted and renovated from floor to ceiling includes a kitchen, complete with an oven, fridge, microwave and a lengthy island. It was made with the vision of holding teen cooking programs such as junior chef and master chef.
There are cafe style tables, a request made by teens in one of the initial discussions; a couch and TV set up; a baby Grand Piano – anonymously donated, said Bilodeau; two large bathrooms – one, wheelchair accessible; two offices – one for support and outreach, the other for counseling; and a small terrace outside, which will have tables and a barbecue during the summer months.
“If they’re hungry, they eat – we always have food for them,” Bilodeau said, who added their work at The Club is often prevention based.
“Our hope is that during that transition age, when they age out of out-of-school care and they feel that they don’t want to be anywhere where they’re being watched per se, they have the opportunity to come here and just have that safe space to go.”
Bilodeau said much of The Club’s renovation costs were supplied by donations and grants.
The final price tag on the project has not yet been disclosed.
