Boys and Girls Club to Open at Mile Square

After 13 years of planning, the Boys and Girls Club at Mile Square Regional Park is set to open in late April, sponsors said.

The 18,800-square-foot Boys and Girls Clubs of Huntington Valley’s Fountain Valley Kingston Branch will offer a variety of sports, recreation and artistic programs, including basketball, roller-hockey and theater.

The Mile Square facility, at 16582 Brookhurst St., also will provide easy access to the park’s baseball and soccer fields.

Planners approached the city and county about the project in 1984 and have since worked to raise the $2.2 million needed to open the center, said Tanya Grimes, executive director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Huntington Valley, which also includes two Huntington Beach chapters.

“It was long in coming,” Grimes said.

Financing for the project came from Kingston Technology Inc., Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center, Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center, the Weingart Foundation, the county, federal grants and individual contributions.

A long-term lease for the property was signed with the county in 1985.

To raise more money for the project, the club is selling engraved bricks that will surround the facility. For $50, sponsors can have the interlocking pavers inscribed with messages.

Membership, open to all schoolchildren, will cost $15 a year. Information: (714) 964-4526.