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Photo by Michael O’Hearn/Crossroads Chronicle The new headquarters, located at 558 Frank Allen Road, sits on a three-acre plot of land valued at $850,000.
A ribbon cutting for the long-awaited opening of the new Boys and Girls Club of the Plateau headquarters in Cashiers was held on April 27, a little more than a year since ground was broken at the new headquarters.
The ceremony was held at the facility on Frank Allen Road across from the Glenville-Cashiers Fire Department. Community members, volunteers, and BGCP families were invited to attend the event. A second open house event will be held for the donors in the coming weeks.
Construction on the new headquarters began in late February 2021, and the building is the result of a community push to provide more space to the BGCP and the children the organization serves.
The new headquarters, located at 558 Frank Allen Road, sits on a three-acre plot of land valued at $850,000. It boasts a 7,200 square foot covered outdoor pavilion, which will host sporting events and concerts. The building will also include outdoor classrooms, a working garden, and a green space for “imaginative play,” according to the BGCP’s new CEO Carmen Waite.
The BGCP is also working on plans for a new Teen Center and is currently leasing its headquarters from the Cashiers Valley Community Council at the Cashiers Community Center.
The project’s total cost amounts to approximately $5 million, and that includes site preparation, construction of the main building, and the outdoor pavilion.
“It’s the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me,” BGCP senior director Allen Tansil said at the ribbon cutting. “I was lucky enough to be the board president when I realized we needed more space. We went out to the community and told them we needed more space, and they said, well, let’s do it.”
Although construction began in 2021, this is a project that was about five years in the making, Tansil said, and it has been a long journey to get to the completion of the new building.
He said the organization knew the space at the Cashiers Community Center would eventually not be enough for its children but noted that was all the group could afford at the time. As the group continued to get larger, the space at the Community Center got smaller.
The first major event the new headquarters will be used for is summer camp, which Tansil said has nearly doubled in size and will take on about 140 children this year compared to the previous largest group of 80 kids.
So how was the BGCP able to build this new facility in about a year during the COVID-19 pandemic and a time when the costs of building materials are skyrocketing?
“It’s kind of a ‘if you build it, they will come,’” Tansil said. “A fellow who represents the door company provided the front doors, the beautiful wood doors, and gave them to us. When many found out this was a Boys and Girls Club, several manufacturers reduced their prices or put us in front of the line to get materials and things like that. So, it’s just amazing.”
The general contractor for the project was Marty Reid of Reid’s Construction in Lake Toxaway. Jim Robinson, an architect and the owner of Cashiers-based Design South Builders, designed the building. Jennings Builders Supply and Hardware, which has locations in Cashiers, Franklin, Fletcher, and Brevard, offered the building supplies to the BGCP at a discounted rate.
One feature of the building is that each room has its own bathroom and its own exit, and there’s a clear line of sight between the staff and the children using the facility, Robinson said.
“The problem is, how do you break down a big building, give it shape, instead of doing just an industrial box,” Robinson said. “So, if we wanted to have an interior space so we can have visibility of all the rooms and all the kids instead of a lot of hallways. How do you bring light in? That’s what these clerestory windows are all about, letting light in, and even though you’re inside, you still have a relationship to the outside natural light.”
Robinson also worked on a mural of a tree that can be seen on one of the walls within the building. It has a lot of meaning to everyone involved with the project, from Reid and Robinson, to Waite and the community donors who supported the construction.
“All the donors’ names will be put on acorns down at the bottom showing who is providing the foundation for the kids’ tree, and then the kids are painting their leaves and putting them up with their names on them,” Robinson said.
The BGCP was founded in 2014 with the intent of providing affordable after school enrichment to working families in the area. Initially serving somewhere between 40 and 50 children, by 2021, the club served 250 members, nearly 50 percent of the community’s children.
The organization had outgrown its current leased space, and leaders began looking at options. As was the case with other facilities in Cashiers, such as The Village Green, the community outpour of support was swift and overwhelming.
According to the BGCP’s website, individual memberships cost just $12 a year and provide members with access to programs and opportunities offered at the club.
Teen participation is free, and any registered teens can visit the Teen Center any time during operating hours.
For more information on BGCP, visit www.bgcplateau.org or call 828-743-2775.
- By Michael O'Hearn/Crossroads Chronicle