Site work underway for new Boys and Girls Club in Adairsville

Bids for Adairsville facility to be opened June 12.

Site preparation work has finally gotten underway for a new Boys and Girls Club facility in downtown Adairsville.

The city of Adairsville purchased the 2.18 acre former S&H Supermarket site at 104 North Main Street three years ago for $199,000 with an eye on redeveloping the property for the club. Currently the club operates its Adairsville unit out of a former Georgia Power building on King Street.

A bid opening for construction of the new club facility is scheduled for June 12, according to Boys and Girls Club Executive Director Gordon Gilley.

The city received a $500,000 Community Development Block grant in 2016 to aid funding for the project. Gilley said in-kind services have been lined up to help with the new building but additional are needed to do everything the organization wants to in Adairsville prior to the start of construction.

The Adairsville facility would encompass approximately 4,500 square feet with a design similar to the main Bartow location in Cartersville.

“It’s going to be durable, functional and aesthetically pleasing,” Gilley said. “Durable being the key word. It’ll be gangbusters compared to our current facility.”

The new clubhouse will be centrally located in Adairsville, less than two blocks from the new Adairsville Elementary School which will open in time for the start of the 2018-2019 school term later this summer.

Adairsville Mayor Kenneth Carson said the city has been involved in discussions with the Georgia Department of Transportation and CSX Railroad about improving the safety of the King Street crossing of a major north-south rail line which sits between the new school and the Boys and Girls Club site.

If the city and club approves the low bidder in June, Gilley said he anticipates construction would be completed before the end of summer. Bartow County and city of Adairsville public works crews are both participating in the clearing and rough grading of the site.

The initial phase of the project would include the primary clubhouse and a multi-purpose athletic field behind the building. A gymnasium is on the drawing board as part of future expansion.

Carson said he is excited to see the Boys and Girls Club project moving forward somewhat simultaneously with the city’s plans for a new Veterans Memorial Park on a 14-acre lot off North Main Street just north of the new Boys and Girls club site.

“We’ve got a lot going on,” Carson said. “It’s all real positive.”