Sports teams are excited about the outdoor turf fields and indoor courts at the new Kent County Recreation Center. The Greater Dover Boys & Girls Club is happy to have a home. And Jeremy Shepherd is happy to have an office.
Looking for space for sports, activities and himself was all part of his job for the past 15 years. The new facility provides 30,000 square feet of gymnasium space and 7,000 square feet of classrooms for the Greater Dover Boys & Girls Club. Now, Shepherd, director of community services for Kent County, jokes that he’s a landlord.
The facility, at 1693 New Burton Road in Dover, was built as a partnership between Kent County and the Boys & Girls Club. The county paid $7 million of the $12 million cost. The club paid the other $5 million.
“The synergy from this collaboration has allowed us to build a facility that offers much more at a cost far less than what we could have done by ourselves,” says George Krupanski, president of the Boys & Girls Clubs in Delaware.
“It’s busy and it’s loud and there’s always something going on,” Shepherd says, smiling as he watches groups of preschoolers chasing balls around the gym. “This is the best opportunity to do as much as possible.”
