WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - The Boys and Girls Club of Wichita Falls celebrated the opening of its new, 20,000-square-foot Eastside facility with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 27.

Located at 501 North Rosewood Avenue, the state-of-the-art facility offers children creative outlets in art, dance, gaming, cooking and sports. The new building features a gym, game room, learning kitchen, and a dance and art studio.

Randy Cooper, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club, expressed his excitement about the facility’s opening. He noted that it has been decades since a new facility was built in the area.

“We’ve had growth, we’ve had demographic shifts in the population. It’s been 45 years since we opened a new Boys and Girls Club in our community the last one opened in January of 1980,” Cooper said.

The nonprofit organization signed a 75-year lease with the Wichita Falls Housing Authority for the building, ensuring that future generations will be able to enjoy the facility.

In addition to the Boys and Girls Club’s spaces, the new building includes a Wichita Falls Housing Authority office and a community room. The community room is named after Donna Piper, the previous Housing Authority director.

“I don’t think my name needs to be on a building to have a good community and a good community center, but it’s appreciated. We talked about it off and on over the years. We had conversations, but to actually see it finished makes me very proud, very proud,” Piper said.

The Donna Piper Community Room will be available to all members of the community. The Boys and Girls Club will also be open to all club members across town, not just those living on the Eastside.