Boys & Girls Clubs debuts $12M teen center along Grant Avenue Parkway

Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield Inc. this month is debuting its $12 million Risdal Family Teen Center for Great Futures along the Grant Avenue Parkway.

The nonprofit this morning held the first of two planned grand opening events for the roughly 32,000-square-foot teen center at 810 W. Catalpa St. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled Aug. 18, the day before the teen center opens to kids.

Wally Graffen, vice president of the Midwest region for Boys & Girls Clubs of America, was among over 300 people in attendance at the event this morning, and he said the teen center is unique in its scope.

"There isn't a club in the country right now that has a teen center with what you can do in here today," he said.

The Risdal Family Teen Center has a gym, health care services from Burrell Behavioral Health and CoxHealth, a Care to Learn closet, 40-plus-person boardroom, barbershop and salon, art and dance studios, esports lounge and game room, and a kitchen and walk-in cooler, among other amenities. Guests were invited to tour the facility following remarks by Graffen, BGCS CEO Brandy Harris, teen center Director Drew King and Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Matt Morrow.

Harris said the facility has a membership cap of 350 students, and 307 have signed up within the first days of enrollment.

"Our kids deserve spaces like this," she said. "This is not a Boys & Girls Clubs project – it is a community one."

Added King, "I'm so glad we're a teen center that will echo great futures."

Morrow said that in his role at the chamber, a common question asked by employers looking to put down roots in the area is whether there's the talent and workforce needed to support their operations.

"The work that happens here is answering that question for today and tomorrow," he said. "It's answering that question by allowing a parent to have a life-sustaining, family-sustaining job and to continue in that job and to grow in that job and to earn and support their families in ways they would not be able to do but for the support of the club."

Ross Construction Group LLC served as general contractor for the project designed by Buxton Kubik Dodd Design Collective, according to past reporting. Officials broke ground on the teen center in February 2024. 

Fundraising ongoing
Harris said that while construction is paid for, there's $700,000 remaining to be raised to support the teen center capital campaign.

Part of the teen center’s funding had been slated to come from the Missouri government, but BGCS noted last month that $1.5 million that had been expected for the project was not approved in the special session in Jefferson City. 

Traditional financing is among the funding stack, as evidenced in public records. A May 16 deed of trust between Boys & Girls Clubs and Commerce Bank lists a $4 million note amount tied to the site.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield ranked No. 7 on Springfield Business Journal's list this year of the area's largest charitable nonprofits. The organization reported 134 employees, 68 volunteers and an operating budget of $4.9 million for the list published Feb. 3.