MIDVALE -- Ping-pong balls are expected to take a beating here in the coming months.
The Midvale City Council recently agreed to sell a quarter acre of Midvale City Park to the local Boys and Girls Club.The city's asking price? $1.
"I'm pretty excited. . . . The entire Midvale community has been very supportive," said Bob Dunn, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Murray/ Midvale.
Dunn and others have been hoping to build a Boys and Girls Club facility in Midvale for several years. Initially, a lot near 182 S. Main was identified as the future site.
But Midvale and Boys and Girls Club leaders were uneasy with the daily walk Midvale Elementary School students would have to make after class. Instead, Midvale agreed to sell the park land located immediately north of the school, 385 E. Center.
Midvale administrator Lee King said the city is generally hesitant to relinquish open space in the city. "But after-school programs for kids are even more important," he said.
The future Midvale Boys and Girls Club facility will be about 15,000 square feet and use the existing park for outdoor activities.
Building costs are estimated to be about $1 million, Dunn said.
The Boys and Girls Club of Murray/Midvale is still a few hundred-thousand dollars short, but Dunn is confident federal and private grants will be available to cover remaining costs.
Currently, between 50 and 70 kids use the Boys and Girls Club program being offered at Midvale Elementary School. Dunn expects several hundred Midvale children will use the new facility.
Besides providing recreational activities like table-tennis and basketball, Dunn said the future Midvale facility will also offer field trips, homework help, drug and alcohol refusal programs and job- and career-skills training.