Last week, the Board of the Regional Development Authority (RDA) for the South Bend-Elkhart region in North Central Indiana met to consider requests for Regional Cities Initiative funding.
The RDA is responsible for disbursement of $1.864 million in remaining Regional Cities Initiative (RCI) grant money that became available for re-allocation in July 2017. This $1.864 million is a portion of the original $42 million awarded to the Innovate Indiana plan submitted by the South Bend – Elkhart Region (Elkhart, Marshall and St. Joseph counties) in late 2015.
During the meeting, 12 project applications received were discussed and evaluated based on the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) and RDA criteria for the Regional Cities Initiative. RDA Board members voted to award funding to the Boys & Girls Club of Marshall County in the amount of $100,000.
The Club is in the midst of a multi-million dollar project which began with tearing down the dilapidated old restaurant building that was converted to a Club more than 20 years ago. The construction of the new Clubhouse consists of two stories at approximately 12,000 square foot with the Teen Center located on the upper level. The new Clubhouse will be dedicated to innovative new programming and will be energy and resource efficient. The two-story facility will provide safe, attractive, supervised and accessible spaces for youth. The Boys & Girls Club program space will be designed to provide youth in the community with age-appropriate youth development programming that is aimed at helping today’s youth to develop their full potential as productive, caring and responsible citizens.
