MUKILTEO — It’s like a country club for kids.
Except the cost is only $30 a year to be a member.
The new Mukilteo Boys & Girls Club is more than a sleek showplace with 3D printers, video games and ball fields.
It’s a place for youth from age 5 through high school to learn, laugh, record music, dance, draw, sweat, study — and knit.
Yes, knit.
The high-tech center has it all, including ancient arts.
Everyone is invited to check out the new digs at the grand opening from 3 to 5 p.m. Feb. 15.
The 18,000-square-foot center is three times the size of the former building used since 1961.
On a recent weekend, the 7,000-square-foot gym bustled with 58 basketball teams. The floor has two games going at once.
“You’ll have four teams out playing, and then the teams waiting, they’ll be using the games room, playing pool, foosball and ping pong,” said Mike Neumeister, an area director for Boys & Girls Clubs of Snohomish County.
Desmond Curtis, 14, left, and Ashwin Dahal, 14, right, play basketball Jan. 24, in the new gym at the Mukilteo Boys & Girls Club. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
The teen center has a recording studio and blackboard that glows with fluorescent chalk. A $100,000 grant from Comcast funded the computer lab. Another room is geared for robotics and art projects.
Logan Marson, 13, spends three or four hours daily at the club. He comes by van after school from Olympic View Middle School, as do two of his buddies.
“It’s cool. The computer lab and teen room are nice. The gym is super big,” Logan said.
Kids after school are often hungry. At the club, there is a full kitchen and students get free sandwiches and snacks during a homework session. There are plans to add cooking classes.
The member fee at the new center is waived in 2019 for students at Olympic View as well as nearby Harbour Pointe Middle School and Kamiak High School.
The former club was housed in a 1925 building at the end of a side street near the waterfront in the Old Town area.
The new location is closer to where families live.
“Now we’re up here where they’re at,” said Mukilteo club unit director Chuck Davis. “We will be able to do a lot more programming than we had in the past.”
The Mukilteo Boys & Girls Club is 18,000 square feet, about three times larger than the former building in the Old Town area of Mukilteo. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
It also stays open later.
Cynthia Braa’s four sons were Mukilteo club members growing up.
“It is good for the health of our youth, especially our teenagers,” she said.
She has stayed on as a teen center volunteer.
More volunteers are needed to teach skills, such as woodworking.
Groups can rent the community room.
The club is seeking sponsors to pitch in a few bucks or a few thousand.
“We are still looking for people to help support the club in different ways,” Neumeister said.
Donors can find options to fit their wallets and interests.
Andrea Brown: abrown@heraldnet.com; 425-339-3443. Twitter @reporterbrown.
The club
The grand opening of Mukilteo Boys & Girls Club, 10600 47th Place W., is Feb. 15. A ceremony is 3 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. An open-house reception is 3:45 to 5 p.m.
For more information, go to www.ImagineMukilteo.com.
To work or volunteer, email mhagan@bgcsc.org or call 425-355-2773.
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