Groundbreaking Ceremony Held For Rosarito Beach Boys & Girls Club

ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO—The first phase of a $1 million Boys & Girls Club designed to eventually serve 1,000 children a day in this city is scheduled for completion in late summer of next year.

The goal of the Boys & Girls Club of Rosarito is to provide positive activities and experiences for children, including ones from needy families, said club president Rosy Torres.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the club on a hillside east of the Sharp Electronics facility was held last Thursday. State and local officials and about 200 people attended the ceremony, which included a gymnastics demonstration by school children.

About $100,000 of the $1 million has been raised, Ms. Torres said.

That includes about $80,000 from the office of Baja California Gov. Jose Guadalupe Osuna Millan; $10,000 from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mexico, which was represented by Enrique Gamboa; and a $10,000 personal donation from Rosarito Mayor Hugo Torres.

At the ceremony Mayor Torres spoke of how the club will provide positive experiences for children, while keeping them from bad influences that could lead to delinquency and experimentation with drugs.

The first phase of the club will include reception and administrative offices, library, computer room, dance/music/ martial arts studio, arts and crafts room, multi-purpose classroom and restrooms.

Also part of the initial phased will be a basketball/volleyball court, skateboarding area, and swings.

The second phases will include large multi-purpose room for events, garden with Baja California flora and a small football field. The third phase will include two racquetball courts and an open-air theater.

”Since there are two different school hours, we plan to host up to 500 kids in the morning and 500 kids in the afternoon,” Ms. Torres said. “We will probably start with 250 in each time frame.”

The Secretary of Education for Baja will pay for at least three full-time teachers; the governor’s office will pay up to half of operating costs. The club will serve children between the ages of 6 and 16.