GROUNDBREAKING SET FOR BIGGER YOUTH CLUB.

Byline: Amy Raisin Staff Writer

CANYON COUNTRY - Groundbreaking on the long-awaited expansion of the Sierra Vista Boys & Girls Club, which will serve 1,000 additional youths on the east side of the valley, is scheduled for the new year

A joint effort between the William S. Hart Union High School District, the Santa Clarita Valley Boys & Girls Club and the city of Santa Clarita, the $6.2 million project will include a full-size gymnasium, centers for arts, computers and other activities, and additional classrooms and restrooms.

``We've been talking about doing this since 1987,'' said Jim Ventress, executive director of the SCV Boys & Girls Club. ``But recessions, earthquakes, other things got in the way. But the day is soon and we're extremely happy and fortunate in this community to have the support we've received.''

The new facility will be built on an existing baseball diamond at Sierra Vista Junior High. The project will free up athletic space currently occupied by the temporary Boys & Girls Club facility, which opened in 1981.

Lundgren Management, which has worked with the Hart district for eight years, will oversee the project and will work with the School-to-Career program and teach students about the construction industry. A formal groundbreaking is set for Feb. 22.

``Two days a week, kids will go through the project and monitor it, see how the whole process works,'' said David Albee, vice president of client services for Lundgren Management. ``They will experience the various roles and responsibilities of architects, engineers and construction managers.''

The project is expected to take a year.