top of page

FUTUROS GRANDES COMIENZAN AQUÍ

Our Journey

AK Stephen Leonard Youth Center file 1_edited.jpg
McCombs Building.jpg

For More Than 30 Years

Since 1993, The Boys & Girls Club of Merced County has provided safe spaces for young people to learn, grow, and succeed. From its beginnings at Leonard Stephen Park to the opening of the McCombs Youth Center in 2002, the Club has expanded to serve over a thousand youth annually through programs at the Club and school-based sites throughout Merced County.

BGCM HSR map.png

An Opportunity to Reflect

In 2024, the City of Merced received notice that the McCombs Youth Center would be acquired as part of the California High-Speed Rail project. While revised High-Speed Rail plans may allow the Club to remain at the McCombs Center, the experience reinforced the importance of long-term stability and planning for the future.​​

Imagine With Us

We're inviting our community to dream alongside us about what comes next. This sketch is just a spark to get the conversation started, a way to start picturing what a permanent home for Merced's youth could look like. We want your ideas to help shape it.

ChatGPT Image Jun 19, 2026 at 05_41_47 PM.png

Early Visioning Concept Study 

​The concept illustrations below were developed during community conversations about the future of Boys & Girls Club services in Merced. While those discussions began during the California High-Speed Rail planning process, they quickly expanded into a broader question: How can the Club continue to meet the needs of a growing community for generations to come?

​

These early concepts helped our community begin imagining what a future Boys & Girls Club home could look like. Developed during a period of planning and community discussion, they sparked important conversations about growth, stability, and how we can continue meeting the needs of local youth as Merced grows.

While our vision continues to evolve, these illustrations represent an early step in the journey toward creating a permanent home where future generations of young people can learn, grow, and thrive.

​

Created: 2024

Timeline

​

  • 1993   The City is unable to fund annual operations of a youth center due to budget cuts. City Council votes to suspend site search.

​

  • 1993   Jean and Jim Weaver establish the Boys & Girls Club of Merced (BGCM). The City provides a temporary facility at Stephen Leonard Park, with the goal of eventually creating a permanent youth center in partnership with BGCM.

​

  • 1998   The City develops a youth center concept that includes BGCM. BGCM commits to covering annual operating costs for youth services in place of rent, allowing the project to proceed. The project is funded by the McCombs Trust earmarked for a youth center, Redevelopment, CDBG, and donations.

​​​​

  • 2000   Merced College secures an additional $300,000 for the Boys & Girls Club through a Hispanic Service Association grant to reach full funding for the youth center.

 

  • 2002   The Boys & Girls Club of Merced County ​opens the doors of the newly completed youth center.

​​

  • 2016   CA High Speed Rail (HSR) station location at R St. considered which would displace the McCombs Youth Center.

​​

  • 2022    HSR Open House presents station location proposal at R St. This becomes the approved station location.

​​

  • 2024   City of Merced receives an offer by the High Speed Rail to acquire the McCombs Youth Center.

​

  • 2024   The Boys & Girls Club begins exploring relocation possibilities and future facility needs, including the development of a preliminary youth center concept.

​​

  • 2024    Community Needs Assessment completed with 826 responses. Results showed strong support for maintaining Boys & Girls Club services in Merced and highlighted the need for continued youth programming and community space.

​

  • 2025    City of Merced renews The Boys & Girls Club of Merced County lease for the McCombs Youth Center for 5 years through 2030.

​​

  • 2026    HSR Authority board unanimously approved their 2026 business plan, which moves the Merced station to South Merced away from downtown and the McCombs Youth Center. The plan now goes to the Legislature.

​​

  • 2026   The Boys & Girls Club expands workforce readiness training to teens and opens a teen center in Merced.

​​

  • 2026   The Boys & Girls Club launches a campaign to develop a new youth center to ensure a long-term home to meet the growing needs of the youth of Merced County.

bottom of page