City Council panel endorses plan to build Boys & Girls Club on site of $95M police and fire academy

A new Boys & Girls Club in Chicago is one step closer to reality.

A City Council committee agreed to lease land for the club on Wednesday. The plan calls for the facility to be built on the campus of the police and fire training academy, which is already under construction in West Garfield Park.

The training academy was put into motion under former Mayor Rahm Emanuel. 

However, some residents have complained that the $95 million being spent on it would be better served for other community programs.

The $8 million youth development center will be the first new Boys & Girls Club in Chicago in more than a generation. 

According to the mayor’s office, the two-story, 18,000-square-foot facility will be part of the city’s new Joint Public Safety Training Campus now being built at 4443 W. Chicago Ave. The project is being funded entirely by the Boys & Girls Club. 

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Construction of the $95 million public safety training academy began earlier this year, and is expected to be completed in the fall of 2022.

Construction of the Boys & Girls Club is scheduled to begin later this year and is expected to be completed by spring of 2023.

Chicago City CouncilNewsWest Garfield ParkLori LightfootChicago Police Department