Spence Eccles and his daughter, Lisa Eccles, play around in the gym after the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Spence Eccles Boys & Girls Club in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. The club has been open under limited capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions, and delayed its public opening celebration until conditions were safer to do so. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Salt Lake on Wednesday was finally able to host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its newest facility a year after COVID-19 delayed the original celebration.
The Spence Eccles Boys & Girls Club, 141 N. 600 West, will serve youth living in the Rose Park and Fair Park communities. The new building, part of the club’s Great Futures Capital Campaign, was constructed just a few blocks away from Capitol West Boys & Girls Club downtown.
Despite health restrictions, the club opened at 25% capacity in June 2020 and continued providing services both in person and virtually, at a time when youth were increasingly isolated. With the pandemic coming to an end, the club currently has nearly 100 youth already enrolled for summer programs and anticipates being at full capacity for the start of school this fall.
Wednesday’s celebration included remarks from LeAnn Saldivar, outgoing president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Salt Lake, and Spencer F. Eccles, for whom the club is named.
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Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Salt Lake serves kids at seven locations in Salt Lake, Tooele and Carbon counties. Prior to the pandemic, nearly 6,500 youth attended these clubs with over 1,200 members coming to the clubs each day. In the early days of the pandemic, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Salt Lake provided virtual activities and mentorship, emergency childcare for children of essential workers and first-responders, and meals for families experiencing food insecurity.
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Vincent Omana, 19, talks to Spence Eccles before the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Spence Eccles Boys & Girls Club in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. The club has been open under limited capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions, and delayed its public opening celebration until conditions were safer to do so. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
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LeAnn Saldivar, president and CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Salt Lake, left, hugs Spence Eccles at the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Spence Eccles Boys & Girls Club in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. The club has been open under limited capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions, and delayed its public opening celebration until conditions were safer to do so. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
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People tour the Spence Eccles Boys & Girls Club in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. The club has been open under limited capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions, and delayed its public opening celebration until conditions were safer to do so. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
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Spence Eccles wears a Utah Jazz tie at the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Spence Eccles Boys & Girls Club in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. The club has been open under limited capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions, and delayed its public opening celebration until conditions were safer to do so. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
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Travis Pfeil, 15, and Eritier Ishimael, 14, play basketball in the gym at the Spence Eccles Boys & Girls Club in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. The club has been open under limited capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions, and delayed its public opening celebration until conditions were safer to do so. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
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Jasmine Vigil, 11, Amari Larsen, 12, Emajin Roland, 13, and Kate Welch, a youth development professional, draw in an activity room at the Spence Eccles Boys & Girls Club in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. The club has been open under limited capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions, and delayed its public opening celebration until conditions were safer to do so. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
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Lisa Eccles plays in the gym with David Manrirho, 15, after the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Spence Eccles Boys & Girls Club in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. The club has been open under limited capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions, and delayed its public opening celebration until conditions were safer to do so. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
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People walk out of the Spence Eccles Boys & Girls Club in Salt Lake City after its ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. The club has been open under limited capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions, and delayed its public opening celebration until conditions were safer to do so. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
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