The Columbia Falls City-County Planning Board last week approved a zone change request for the Boys and Girls Club of Glacier Country.

The club has purchased 3 acres of land for a new facility and sought a zone change from CR-3 (one family residential) to CB-2 (general business).

City planner Eric Mulcahy noted the zone change was in compliance with the city’s growth policy. Most of the zoning in the area is already commercial. The club facility, when built, would also act as a buffer between the highway and nearby homes.

One neighbor was concerned that the new facility would shine light onto her property and block her mountain views, but Mulcahy noted the planning board was just looking at the zone change, not plans for a building.

The club hasn’t started a capital campaign for the project, so the plans for the new facility are still in development. 

Several club supporters and board members spoke in favor of the project.

Justin Lee, who had served as interim CEO of the club, noted the project has been five years in the making and is conceived to not just be a facility for the area’s youth, but for seniors and other community members and events.

Currently, Columbia Falls has few options to even hold gatherings, as Logan Health closed the former community building on Nucleus Avenue to public use.

In Columbia Falls the club currently runs out of the former Episcopal Church and serves about 40 to 50 youths daily.

But the church is showing its age and the basement is dark and dreary. The club serves about 100 youths overall, with staff in Columbia Falls and Evergreen.

It continues to search for a permanent CEO.

Last year the club sought a roughly $600,000 state Community Development Block Grant. But because the site had no infrastructure, the state turned the grant down for the time being, until it could be installed.

Freedom Bank earlier this year guaranteed a line of credit of $299,000 to install the infrastructure.