Boys & Girls Club Celebrates Reopening

The computers actually work. A bright blue and yellow color scheme has replaced the peeling paint on the gym walls. And newly laid sod has replaced the dirt children used to play in.

Dignitaries, parents and giggling children celebrated the reopening Wednesday of the former Port Hueneme Boys & Girls Club with speeches, cookies and punch in its municipally owned Pleasant Valley Road facility as a branch of its Oxnard counterpart.

“It’s a lot better,” 9-year-old Ben Breslin said as he pointed out basketball nets that were no longer shredded and a new scoreboard with working lights. “They got new pool tables.”

Financial mismanagement led to the club’s eviction in January and the replacement of most staff and board members. Reports of less than wholesome activities when the club was closed on weekends, including a photo shoot of bikini-clad models, also contributed to its closure.

But the events pushed forward a proposed merger of the Oxnard and Port Hueneme clubs--delayed more than a year by bickering and political infighting.

Since its closure earlier this year, the city has spent about $50,000 cleaning up the club and plans to use almost $100,000 in federal grants to fix plumbing and other more expensive problems, said City Manager Dick Velthoen.

“We spent four weeks of staff time doing a lot of rehabbing and refurbishing to get this back to be a safe place for our youth,” said Mayor Tony Volante. “We’re starting fresh.”

Club officials said the efforts have paid off since the club reopened April 16.

The club claims a paid membership of 250, compared with about 80 before it closed, said Jaime Zendejas, branch director. He expects to reach between 1,000 and 1,200 members by year’s end.

United Way, which contributed 60% of the Port Hueneme club’s budget, will continue its financial support at essentially the same level.

“We were in favor of the merger,” said Beverly Viola, United Way of Ventura County vice president. “We kept the focus of the children in front of us. This is a wonderful facility and there’s a need here.”

Parent Avi Bahr said he had stopped volunteering at the club and refused to allow his two children to attend when conditions deteriorated under the previous management. But the improvements have enticed him to return.

“The building has been improved tremendously under the new leadership,” he said as his kids played Ping-Pong nearby. “They are going to garner more community support.”