Summerside Boys and Girls aims for older crowd

The Summerside Boys and Girls club is expanding to tackle drug problems in older youth.

The P.E.I. club is about to start on a $90,000 renovation to a house it has purchased across the street from its current facility. It will include a recording studio, fitness room, computer rooms, showers, a kitchen and laundry facilities.

The new building will target kids aged 13+ and older. An important part of the work there will be programs to reduce drug abuse.

The Summerside Boys and Girls Club is still dealing with overcrowding in current facility. About 240 children aged 12 and under use it daily. With the local YMCA closing in December, demand is expected to increase.

The club is looking for a long-term solution that could include a satellite facility somewhere else in the city. In the meantime it is still fund-raising for the current renovation. It is aiming to attract online votes . for an Aviva fund-raising contest.

It hopes to have the new house ready in March.