Three months after a $4.5 million transformation of the old Pine Technical High School on Howard Avenue, the new Boys and Girls Clubhouse averages about 110 children each day, club officials say.
“The numbers are not too bad and we expect them to increase when school starts up this fall,” said Jim Queen, the club’s unit director.
The new club, made possible in large part by a $2 million donation from retired Playtex mogul Joel E. Smilow, features a renovated gymnasium, a computer lab, study area and craft room. There is also an additional recreation room with pool tables and shuffleboards.
Augie Marino, 10, of Ansonia, said some of the most popular activities at the clubhouse include basketball and “Ripken Quickball,” a home run derby game played in the gymnasium.
“I like to play lots of sports here,” Marino said.
The clubhouse is “a good place place to just hang out or play pool,” Manuel Rivera, 14, said.
The club plans to continue raising money to open an additional recreation room on the second floor, and a teen center in the basement.
“I’m excited for the teen center, so they can have a place to hang all day,” Queen said.
Currently, the clubhouse is only open for teens at night, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The Joel E. Smilow Clubhouse officially opened its doors on March 23. It will help alleviate some of the pressure the Shelton Boys and Girls club, Queen said.
Queen said a new bus system that will take effect at the beginning of the upcoming school year.
Buses from both the John G. Prendergast and the John C. Mead Elementary Schools will stop at the Ansonia clubhouse, providing many more children with rides than the previous club-based van system.
