Construction has started on 5,000-square-foot addition to Boys & Girls Clubs of Kootenai County’s Jordan Johnson Clubhouse building, nearly doubling the size of the center, says Mark Kuhnhausen, executive director of the organization.

Construction on the $1.7 million project began in January and is expected to be completed in September, says Kuhnhausen. 

Young Construction Group of Idaho Inc., of Coeur d’Alene, is the contractor on the project, and ML Architect & Associates Inc., of Post Falls, designed it.

The Boys & Girls Clubs clubhouse is located at 200 W. Mullan, in Post Falls. It was established in 2012 and serves children ages 6 to 18 years old. The organization has a membership of 800, says Kuhnhausen.

The new space will serve as a multipurpose cafeteria and classroom area in which kids will learn meal-preparation and other culinary skills. The kitchen will receive light upgrades as well, he says. 

The addition will make room for a makerspace that will have classes and activities centered around science, technology, engineering, and math learning such as robotics courses, says Kuhnhausen.

Summer camp programs that serve about 200 children will be moved temporarily from the clubhouse to Seltice Elementary School, located about a half-mile northwest of the club at 1101 N. Chase Road, in order to complete the bulk of heavy construction and renovation by September, he says.

“We’re grateful for our community partnerships and to be able to run our summer program at the elementary school,” he says.