Anschutz Center Now Open at Holly Square
The Vickers Boys & Girls facility is outfitted to serve over 250 kids a day and the Mi Casa Resource Center is open to career and business training services
By Erin Vanderberg
Editor
The new Nancy P. Anschutz Center, home of the Jack A. Vickers Boys & Girls Club, celebrated its grand opening on October 1, one year after its groundbreaking, at the new facility located at 3333 Holly Street.
In attendance at the event were the many community partners who had made the redevelopment possible, including Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock, the Anschutz family, Jack A. Vickers, David Miller from the Denver Foundation, Eric Swan from the Holly Area Redevelopment Project, Aaron Miripol from the Urban Land Conservancy, and John Arigoni, Boys & Girls Club of Metro Denver CEO.
Longtime Boys & Girls Club supporter John Elway was also in attendance, as were supporters State Senator Michael Johnston, District 2 Commander Michael Calo, and Denver School Board Vice-President Happy Haynes. The project’s architect, Jim Bershof of Oz Architecture, and members of the general contractor’s family, Saunders Construction, were also there to celebrate the completion of their work. Vickers Boys & Girls Club Director Jason Torrez was celebrating while working with his staff to oversee the 40-plus kids’ in attendance art, sports and technology projects.
The Jack A. Vickers Boys & Girls Club includes a library, an art room, a computer lab, a recreation area, a performance area, an indoor basketball court, small classrooms, a teen center, and open reading areas. It is the only the only club in the metro area to feature a commercial grade kitchen, donated by Saunders Construction, which will not only serve to feed kids dinner every night, but also as a learning area in collaboration with the community garden outside, which was planted in September with support from The Kitchen Community.
The Mi Casa Resource Center is also on site, offering an Innovation Lab for career and business training for high school students, adults and area businesses.
“The work we can and must do in our communities to ensure Denver children will grow to lead productive lives is of great importance. The need for this center and for organizations like the Boys & Girls Club has never more critical,” said Mayor Hancock.
Mayor Hancock encouraged community members to embrace and enliven the center and its community cohorts on Holly Square by finding ways to get involved at the Boys & Girls Club, the Mi Casa Resource Center, the Hiawatha Davis Recreation Center, the HOPE Center, the Pauline Robinson Branch Library, or on the futsal and basketball courts.
The burned out Holly Square property, which was destroyed by gang-related arson fire in May 2008, was purchased by the Urban Land Conservancy (ULC) with additional support from Denver’s Office of Economic Development in 2009. The ULC also oversaw demolition of the burned structures on the 2.6-acre site. With the support of ULC, The Denver Foundation’s Strengthening Neighborhoods Program, and then Denver City Councilman (now Mayor) Michael B. Hancock, the residents of Northeast Park Hill coalesced into a community-wide action group, the Holly Area Redevelopment Project (HARP), to create a new vision for the site. Once the club was decided upon, the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Denver worked with The Anschutz Foundation to obtain a $5 million grant. The Piton Foundation also made a sizeable financial commitment. The Greater Park Hill Community also played an early and important role in the redevelopment by working with stakeholders to defeat a liquor license application on the site in 2009.
“This grand opening is truly reflective of the commitment of so many to further our mission of helping children to better their lives in Denver, and now we can work to do just that in an area that, until now, has lacked a resource center like this,” said John Arigoni, president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver. “The number of children and families this center will positively impact is profound.”