Beasley to help raise funds for new Boys & Girls Club in Adairsville
The property is graded but no date is set for breaking ground.
Atlanta Falcon linebacker and former Adairsville High multi-sport star Vic Beasley Jr. will serve as the co-chair for phase two of a major capital campaign for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Bartow County.
A large share of the funds raised during the campaign are designated for a new facility in Adairsville.
Beasley is being joined as co-chairman of the fundraising campaign by United Community Bank executive Gary Floyd.
“Those of you who have been to our existing building know that the need is great,” said Executive Director Gordon Gilley during a meeting with Adairsville business leaders Thursday. “The good news is that we haven’t stopped serving kids. The great news is that soon we’re about to build a building that this community and our members can be proud of.”
The new club will be located on North Main Street, a block away from the Public Square in downtown Adairsville and less than two blocks from the new Adairsville Elementary School.
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Fundraising has taken a little longer than anticipated, Gilley said, and that city officials in Adairsville are seeking an extension of the time to use the CDBG funds for the project.
The 2.18-acre site was acquired by the city of Adairsville for $199,000.
“A club is not necessarily about the building but with this building (the new one) it affords us so many more opportunities,” Floyd said. “The in-kind contributions that have already been made exceed $100,000 but we’ve got to have about another $100,000.”
Plans call for construction of a club building, multi-purpose athletic fields and ultimately a gymnasium. The Adairsville club, currently housed in a small, old Georgia Power maintenance building, serves an average of about 85 kids a day and the new building will allow them to expand the scope of their services, Gilley said.
Plans for the clubhouse are still being tweaked with the general contractor, Ace Construction of Taylorsville, to try to rein in costs.
Gilley said the results of work done by the club are quantifiable — 98 percent of the kids enrolled in either the Adairsville or Cartersville location go on to graduate from high school.
“These are kids that are making better decisions and staying out of trouble,” Gilley said.
Gilley told the group at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast that a main purpose of the organization is to make children productive members of the community when they grow up.
“It’s going to be a centerpiece of this community,” Gilley said.