By ROD ZOOK
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — With the help of a grant from the Hutchinson Community Foundation, the Boys and Girls Club of Hutchinson is getting the chance to look into expansion.
The grant is being used for a feasibility study to see if the organization can and should build a second facility. Plans would be to use the building for the elementary-age students leaving the current Shadduck Park building for the older students.
“We want to see if it’s feasible to build at another location,” Skip Wilson said. “Our hopes are that we can, hopefully real close to Shadduck Park.”
Wilson not only sees the expansion as a positive for the organization, but for the area as well. Wilson says it is a chance to make the park a go-to place again.
“If you go back to the 1920s and 30s when you look at Hutchinson, the area where Shadduck Park is was quite a mecca within the community,” Wilson said. “There was a huge lake that was called Shadduck Lake right next to where Cow Creek runs through. On that lake they had a pavilion and they had a gazebo where bands would play.”
Wilson says it won't be like that but still wants to bring the area back to life. “What we’re hoping to do . . . is bring that neighborhood back to prominence again,” Wilson said. “And we think a building would be a nice start.”
Wilson says the organization will work with its national partners and others to see if such an expansion is possible and how they will fund such a building. The club says, once the study starts, it will take about four months to complete.
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