MINNEAPOLIS — Located in Phelps Park one block away from George Floyd Square, the Southside Village Boys and Girls Club is quieter than usual this week as kids settle into school routines. However, there are sometimes as many as 100 kids in the building, which consists of three classrooms, a lunch area and a gym.
Now with a federal grant, the club plans to expand by an additional 8,000-12,000 square feet.
"There's just so many things that the Boys and Girls Club can offer," branch director Mark Graves said. "Not just in the educational piece but music studios, recording studios."
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) secured $750,000 in Community Project Funding and presented the check Thursday while visiting the building.
Graves attended the same Boys and Girls Club growing up, which he said started in a home before moving to city park property. He says the expansion project would not only mean a bigger building but also an increase in the number of young people they'll be able to serve. It would also expand the ages they serve.
"The space that we're proposing we'll be able to house up to 500 more youth," Graves said. "We're making a big focus on teens. With more opportunities for that age group, hopefully, they won't have as much time to get caught up with people that are doing the wrong thing."
Graves has been an employee for around 22 years and Rep. Omar said she also has ties to the organization.
"My two older kids are Club kids and spent many, many hours being cared for and attended to by the Boys and Girls Club and so it means a great deal to me that programs like this exist," the congresswoman said.
Boys and Girls Club of the Twin Cities leaders say, rather than staying within Phelps, they may expand to a new building nearby and that they're working out details with the city. So far, there's no exact date for when construction will begin.
"We really have so much support from the neighborhood churches, community leaders at George Floyd Square but just overall, as bad as that situation was, it really brought people that really didn't communicate as much, it brought us together," Graves said.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist: