After years of looking to other cities to hold town hall meetings or house special programs, Farmersville may finally have a foundation on which to build upon.

Farmersville took the first steps to finally having its own community center after the Boys & Girls Club of Sequoias closed escrow on what will be the future site of a 12,000-square-foot center.

Executive Director Joe Engelbrecht said the Boys & Girls Club of the Sequoias - which operates clubs in Farmersville, Exeter and Porterville - purchased the property from the United Methodist Church for about $70,000. The Boys & Girls Club has been using the 5,000-square foot church as its Farmersville club since 2005.

Engelbrecht said the city and the club will jointly construct the two-story community center with a gymnasium, art room, teen room, computer lab, kitchen etc. Engelbrecht said the center would not only house the Boys & Girls Club but a variety of other youth development organizations and resources including a city library and groups such as Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Farmersville Unified School District, etc. Because there is such a demand for youth services in Farmersville, all three club sites, including clubs at Hester and Freedom elementary schools, would remain open.

“This would benefit the entire community, not just children,” Engelbrecht said. “This would be used for adult education opportunities, adult basketball leagues, and adult activities, meetings and events.”

Farmersville is the only city that does not have a Veterans Memorial Building or other community-owned facility to hold large-scale meetings and events, making it difficult for local groups to hold fund-raisers and functions.

Artist renderings of the center were on display for at the May 12 Farmersville City Council meeting. The renderings were done by Visalia-based Donald Lawrence Company. The company also showed the council renderings of a new northern entrance into the city off Highway 198 at Noble and Farmersville Boulevard.

Engelbrecht said the Boys & Girls Club has already begun asking for donations of money, materials and in-kind services to help furnish, landscape and finish the center. It is estimated that the project will cost around $3.5 million. The club and the city will try to complete the project in three phases. The first phase would include the first floor of the building. Phase two would be the second story and the final phase would include a gymnasium and pool.

“We are planning on building the shell but leaving the second story unfinished in the first phase of construction,” Engelbrecht said.

City Manager Renee Miller has said the center would serve as the Boys & Girls Club during afterschool hours and then could be used for city and community meetings and events during the day, nights and weekends.

The historic 120-year-old church steeple will eventually be relocated to another piece of property within the city to make way for the center. The church was abandoned in 2003 and was converted to the Farmersville Youth Center in 2004 before closing that same year. The Boys & Girls Club opened its doors in January 2005. The church is considered the oldest building in Farmersville even though it was not originally built in town but moved to Farmersville in the 1800s. For more information about donating to the capital fund for a the Farmersville Community Center, call the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Sequoias at 592-4074.

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