The work on the newly renovated facility of the new Boys and Girls Club of the Valleys wrapped up several weeks ago, but the sparkling new building sits empty — its brand-new kitchen unused, dust gathering on the donated game tables as no children’s shouts fill its colorful walls.
Outside, spaces intended for large, colorful murals stand blank, and surrounded by pavement broken up for an unfinished Wiffle ball field and basketball courts.
Although the building itself is finished, thanks in part to an estimated $70,000 raised within the community, new contributions to keep the project moving forward have declined in recent months.
That’s the current situation that the fledgling organization faces, says Joe Aliberti, the project’s benefactor, as the board of directors seeks to rebuild lost momentum — as well as volunteer and community support.
“People just quit helping,” said Aliberti, who, along with his wife Linda Aliberti, contributed approximately $1 million in 2012 to purchase the property at 5060 Scotts Valley Drive. “We have games that have been donated and they’re just sitting there.”
While the building itself is ready to go, Aliberti said, the next phase of getting the facility operational will require a renewed community interest in the project, as volunteers are needed to complete the exterior projects, and funding is needed in order to hire an executive director, and staff.
Aliberti, 84, is a retired building contractor and has spent much of the last year volunteering to oversee the work that transformed the dilapidated old RV storage structure into a fully functioning destination for the youth of the Scotts Valley and the San Lorenzo Valley communities.
The building is now completely wheelchair-accessible and boasts a full kitchen, a designated computer lab, and a pair of game rooms designed for youth to participate in computer training, healthy living classes, arts and crafts, and music programs.
During the spring and summer months, passers-by on Scotts Valley Drive may have noticed the changing exterior of the building, as well.
The remodel replaced the shabby shingle roof with a modern metal one, widened the front entrance for wheelchair accessibility, and removed a pair of large, metal roll-up bay doors.
With the building’s construction complete, Aliberti says he and his wife are headed back into retirement.
“We took a year out of our retirement to do this,” Aliberti said. “It was a full-time job, and I enjoyed every minute of it.”
Although Joe Aliberti said that he will no longer be quarterbacking the project as directly as before, he and Linda Aliberti have set up a foundation to ensure that the project continues.
For more information about the Boys and Girls Club of the Valleys, visit www.bgcvalleys.org
