A place of their own: Coupeville Boys and Girls Club plans a gym

Friday afternoon, a couple dozen elementary school children marched down Main Street in Coupeville to the edge of town, where a club house on Ebey’s prairie welcomed them to rooms brimming with technology and activities.

Before the light got too dusky, the kids in the Boys and Girls Club hurried outside to the large, new playground that has views of the Olympic Mountains, farmland, woods — and if you climb to the top — the waters of Admiralty Inlet. Not that the laughing, climbing and running children had time to admire the surroundings.

The playground was built with a generous donation from Coupeville resident Richard Thom, who funded the project in honor of his late wife, Linda. He explained they have two children and six grandchildren and always cared about child welfare. He saw that the need for the playground was obvious.

On Friday, he watched the children gleefully crawling all over the equipment.

“It’s really heartwarming to see,” he said.

The building itself, which opened a year ago, was constructed with nearly $2 million in appropriations from the state legislature, as well as sizable donations from the community.

Bill Tsoukalas, executive director of Snohomish and Island Counties’ Boys and Girls Clubs, said the next project for the Coupeville chapter is to build an adjacent gymnasium that could be used by both the children of the club and the adults in the community.

U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen already kickstarted the effort to raise the estimated $2 million for a 8,000-square-foot, freestanding gym. In March, he secured $500,000 for the project in the Fiscal Year 2024 spending package.

Gym space for adults is missing from the Central Whidbey community, Tsoukalas pointed out, and the new facility could fill the void, providing a space for basketball, volleyball, pickleball, badminton and possible other sports.

“The gymnasium will be a cornerstone for sports and fitness activities for kids and adults and also serve as an emergency location/shelter for the town of Coupeville and Central Whidbey Island,” he said. “Providing safe and affordable child care for youth and families is vital to the quality of life of communities.”

In addition to the gymnasium, the organization also has plans to build ballfields on the site.

Heidi Roberts, the unit director for the Boys and Girls Club, said the gym will be a great place for ever-energetic kids to get exercise when it’s too rainy or windy to play outside.

With a gym, Roberts said, the club could accept more members. There are currently 60 kids signed up, plus there’s a waitlist. The club also provides teenagers with valuable first-time jobs.

The new club facility represents a community effort. The club used to be located at the former Coupeville fire station, a cramped space that wasn’t adequate for a steady rise in membership. The organization offers before- and after-school child care, a summer program and recreational and community-building opportunities for children and teens.

Recognizing the need for a better facility, a fundraising effort was started. In 2016, the Unity Center for Positive Living donated about 4 acres for the Boys and Girls Club to build on. The property, at 706 S. Main St. in Coupeville, is on the same side of Highway 20 as Coupeville Elementary and Middle School, an easier and safer walk for kids between the two locations.

Supporters were able to raise more than $100,000 for the effort, but it took support from state lawmakers to make the dream a reality.

Coupeville resident Carmen McFadyen said she worked to build community awareness of the new club and helped raise funds for construction mainly by getting donations and acknowledging the givers with a leaf on the “Giving Tree.”

In 2019, the state legislature responded to the club’s appeals by granting it $824,000 in the two-year capital budget. In 2021, the legislature followed up with a $1.3 million allotment to building the facility.

The building was opened in August 2023.

The interior of the spacious facility is impressive. In addition to a large open space with tables for studying and other activities, there’s a computer lab, a room for artistic and science-related activities, a kitchen and, for the first time, a dedicated teen room with just about everything an older kid could love.

Large-screen TVs are mounted in each room. Roberts explained that the monitors are connected to the computer system and can play the same video or separate ones for each room.

Tsoukalas said he made sure the server room is behind glass so that the children can see the high-tech equipment.

“It’s a safe, fun, affordable and accessible place for children to be,” Tsoukalas said.

McFadyen was thrilled by the “fantastic” new building, which she said will be a great place for the next generation.

“The Coupeville Boys and Girls Club met my every wish and more,” she said in an email. “I have dreamed of a safe place for kids for over four decades and never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine such a place would become a reality in my lifetime.”

The new facility in Coupeville represents just one success in the growing Snohomish and Island Counties’ Boys and Girls Clubs. About three years ago, the club in Oak Harbor moved from the Roller Barn to a larger, remodeled space on Ely Street.

Roberts said a newer club at the South Whidbey Elementary School North Campus is popular and growing.

The organization has 26 clubs in the state, including eight at tribal sites. More than 4,000 children are members and over 23,000 youth benefit from the club programs each year.