By Bridget Halloran
WEST SENECA — West Seneca’s long-discussed Boys & Girls Club now has a building. Organizers are aiming to open it in September 2027 inside the school district’s Winchester building at 650 Harlem Road. The bigger job now is raising the money to run it.
The West Seneca Central School District has agreed to give the club three years of free rent and to provide busing, The Bee reported Oct. 22 in a story by Southtowns co-editor Eric Keppeler.
“Our Boys & Girls Club will provide after-school care and supervision for children and youth while students are engaged in homework, arts and crafts or games in classroom spaces,” Superintendent Lisa Krueger said, according to The Bee. “Students will also be physically active in the gymnasium, on the playground and outdoors. The Winchester School has a wonderful auditorium where we envision students being center stage in drama clubs and talent shows.”
East Aurora’s club as the lead agency
A new Boys & Girls Club has to start as a partner of an existing one, and West Seneca’s lead agency will be the Boys & Girls Club of East Aurora, The Bee reported.
“West Seneca will hopefully become their own entity someday,” said Gary Schutrum, the East Aurora club’s CEO, as quoted by The Bee. “We’re just trying to help them get up and running, using the expertise we have to guide them and hopefully make them as successful as we are.”
An advisory board of almost 20 West Seneca residents is working on the effort, along with committees on finance, resource development and marketing.
What the club would look like
According to The Bee, the club would take the building’s first floor, with use of the gym, cafeteria, kitchen and classrooms. It would have 14 staff members plus a site director, all with some level of medical training.
The district has more than 6,000 school-age children. Membership will be capped at 250 to start, and dues are expected to be $600 a year, with scholarships or discounts available based on an income formula, The Bee reported.
The club won’t be the only tenant. The district plans to move its central registration office, its clothing and school supply closets, and a new Family Support Center into Winchester. The support center will connect families with mental health resources and counseling. The building would also host community events such as vaccination clinics.
Krueger first laid out that vision in the district’s spring 2026 newsletter, describing a “centralized Community Center” at Winchester. In that message, she said a Boys & Girls Club “would provide a safe, supervised space for homework assistance, enrichment activities, and social engagement after school.” The same newsletter said the district intends to vacate its Ebenezer building at 900 Mill Road by December 2027 and sell it.
The spring plan also listed leased classroom space for Erie 1 BOCES at Winchester. The Bee now reports BOCES will move to a new, larger facility in Cheektowaga after this school year.
The money question
The Bee called raising operating money “the biggest hurdle.” Organizers plan an individual giving campaign starting in November and a major fundraiser Feb. 6 at Kloc’s Grove.
Krueger said the effort has already received donations from civic groups, including the Rotary Club and the West Seneca Woman’s Club, plus a $55,000 grant from With Youth For Youth. Schutrum said Assemblyman Pat Burke secured $300,000 for staffing and programming, The Bee reported.
“Our progress toward opening a Boys & Girls Club has been possible through the commitment of a dedicated group of individuals and our Board of Education,” Krueger said. “The response from our community has been incredible. People see the need and want to be involved. Opening a Boys & Girls Club is an investment in our community, and we are being strategic to ensure long-range financial sustainability.”
What families can expect in the meantime
Starting this school year, the district is partnering with the YMCA to run its before- and after-school program inside its elementary schools, according to the district’s website. The district says it anticipates the club opening for the 2027-28 school year as “another option for families.”
The Buffalo Chronicle has asked the district what the three-year rent-free arrangement is worth, what operating budget the club needs to open on schedule, and what happens after the free-rent period ends. This story will be updated with any response.
Sources: The Bee (Eric Keppeler); West Seneca Central School District. Featured photo: the West Seneca Community Center and Public Library, a file photo. Andre Carrotflower / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped).
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