By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- The village Board of Trustees unanimously threw their support behind the Boys and Girls Club of America putting down stakes in Massena at their Tuesday night meeting.

Trustee Patricia Wilson, who also sits on the local Boys and Girls Club steering committee, said they are hoping to open doors in May.

Massena Police Chief Timothy Currier, an active proponent of the club, said they need to raise $750,000 to get things up and running. Of that, $175,000 will be to purchase the former St. Joe’s school on Bailey Road to house the club, $150,000 will be earmarked for renovations, $25,000 will cover capital campaign expenses, and the remaining balance will pay the operation costs for the first three to four years.

“If a club’s going to fail, it’s in those first three to four years,” Currier said.

Boys and Girls Club of America representative Bill Wolfe told the board that the center will be headed up by “paid, trained, professional staff with some volunteers.”

The capital campaign will launch July 27 at an invitation-only event at a private residence on Wilson Hill.

“NHL hockey player Zach Bogosian has agreed to be our spokesman,” said Currier, who added donations can be made online at bgcmassena.org.

On Tuesday night, Currier told the board he thinks the Boys and Girls Club could fill what he sees as a void that has been growing in the local community. He cited a drastic rise in violent crime and growing economic disparity.

“One in four children (in Massena) are born poor … 50 percent qualify for free lunch,” he told the board Tuesday night.

He also pointed to current census figures that he said shatters the myth that Massena is a retirement community – 16 percent of residents reported their age as 65 and up while 23 percent was reported as under 18.

Currier noted that Boys and Girls Club attendees have higher-than-normal high school graduation rates – 90 percent attain their degree. According to the state Department of Education, 72.3 percent of the 2008 freshman cohort graduated in 2012.

“There’s three reasons for kids getting into trouble: Negative peer influences, negative adult influences, and they have nothing to do,” according to Currier.