Here’s when the Boys and Girls Club is set to open its new building in Myrtle Beach
The revamped Boys and Girls Club of the Grand Strand will begin welcoming children to its new building Sept. 14, the interim CEO of the club announced.
After a $250,000 donation from Myrtle Beach native and former NBA guard Ramon Sessions in 2016, the club relocated from its former location, which was affectionately known as the “little blue house.”
The club got a substantial face lift after the donation and has relocated to Dunbar Street and Mr. Joe White Avenue in Myrtle Beach. While interim CEO Cindy Ball couldn’t confirm the cost of the relocation, the original budget was between $1.2 million and $1.6 million, the club’s former CEO told The Sun News in 2016.
“It’s a beautiful thing to see that place open up and just knowing the effect it’s going to have on the community and the city of Myrtle Beach,” Sessions said Tuesday.
Sessions said he wishes he had such a place to go to when he was young since the facility is much more than a basketball court to be named after him.
“To get the kids into it with a fresh start, I just feel like it’s going to let them achieve their goals even more. Because at the end of the day, not everybody’s going to play basketball, not everybody’s going to be an entertainer. So for me, I feel like the education piece was so big,” said Sessions, who played 11 seasons in the NBA and now serves as director of team development & player engagement for the New Orleans Pelicans.
“Obviously the gym is in there, but even if it didn’t have a gym, just the whole aspect of them having a place to go that’s going help them get to college, help them get a degree, help them get a career was the whole feeling. I feel like that’s going to be the ultimate goal of this Boys & Girls Club.”
Burroughs and Chapin donated the land housing the new building, which is a 16,000-square-foot, two-story building. The club originally expected to serve 400 kids, around 150 more than the previous location, but the ongoing coronavirus pandemic caused them to drop that number. Only 70-90 kids will be allowed at the club per day, and the child-to-staff ratio will be held at 10-1, Ball said. The club looks to follow Horry County Schools’ guidelines throughout the year, and Ball hopes they will be able to eventually serve 400 kids as originally planned.
“Our plans to get back up to those numbers will be contingent on the COVID spread,” she said.
Ball took over as interim head of the club after the former CEO, Diane Buonto dismissed in January. Buonto was under investigation by police after the club discovered “some discrepancies” but did not elaborate. Former board Chair Kim Hardee told The Sun News in April that Buonto’s situation wouldn’t impact the club’s plans to move.
Ahead of welcoming children back Sept. 14, the club is hosting an open house Sept. 9. Anyone can make donations at the club’s website: bgclubgs.org.
Sessions will not be able to make the opening because of work obligations, but he said he’s impressed by what he’s seen with his own eyes and also what he’s been told about the new building.
“The curb appeal, like I’m trying to get that at my house. The setup is nice,” Sessions said. “When you look from the outside you’ve got the glass windows, the color stands out. I mean, that brand new building on 10th Avenue (Joe White) stands out.”