Location, Location, Location

Location, Location, Location

The Black Canyon Boys & Girls Club (BCBGC) became the big 2-0 in 2019. To celebrate this momentous occasion, the Club has partnered with the Montrose Daily Press on a special project; to bring to the readers of the Press an article each week to highlight various aspects of the Club and show the impact it has had in Montrose & Olathe. The readers will get insight from current parents, former Club kids, current Club kids, past Club staff, and more. So join us each week as we show why “Great Futures Start Here!”

We all have heard the famous realtor phrase “location, location, location” and it’s a well-known phrase for a reason. Location plays a large part of our lives whether we realize it or not; not just where we chose to live or work, but also the gas station we go to because it is on our way home from work or the grocery store just down the street to pick up milk when we forgot it on the last shopping trip, the location of things is a vital component of our lives.

The Black Canyon Boys & Girls Club (BCBGC) recently launched its capital campaign to build its own permanent facility in Montrose. When this capital campaign launched, one of the major questions I heard from the community was how did we determine the location of the future Club Unit? I can tell you a lot of factors were considered when determining the Club location and it was not an easy task to finalize the right location for us.

The capital campaign did not start overnight. The Board of the Club, myself, and my Executive Director predecessor, have looked at 12 possible location in Montrose over the last five years. From existing structures (some move in ready, some for remodel) to varying plots of land, all of them had pros for the Club but they also had cons or logistical issues that we simply could not overcome. For example, we found one location that would have been perfect for Club; it was an existing facility that would have suited our needs in almost every way but this is where the location issue came into play. It would have been almost impossible for the bus barn to work out getting to this location within its daily route schedule and to get the kids to Club in a timely, effective manner. We rely on the bus barn to get our kids to Club during the school year, and owe them a giant thanks for that, and if they were not able to make it work, we could not make that location work.

So after years and years of searching, we found a lot on the corner of 6700 Rd and Niagara that would fit all of our needs in terms of location while allowing the Club the opportunity to build a facility for the future. The new Club sits within the Johnson Elementary boundary lines. As a result of this, Johnson would let the Club partner with them on a program they have in place which would allow us to bring low cost, nutritious meals to the kids during the summer. Furthermore, the new Club Unit is in a relatively central location within town, it has access to multiple crosswalks/sidewalks/etc. for the kids to be able to walk/ride bikes to Club safely, and it also allows for the Club to build the facility it wants, not just for its needs now, but its goals for the future.

We are sold on the location but want the community to be as well. If you have any additional questions on the location of our future home, please shoot me an e-mail. I am all in for the capital campaign for the Club and would like the whole community to be all in as well.

Bud Taylor is the Executive Director for the Black Canyon Boys & Girls Club (BCBGC) and had been for the past two years. Prior to that, he was a BCBGC kid, junior staff member, and board director. Feel free to contact Bud Taylor by e-mail at btaylor@bcbgc.org or visit the Club’s website for more information, www.bcbgc.org.