The future of the Boys & Girls Clubs in Rancho Santa Margarita is uncertain since the lease on the city property it rents expires at the end of June — and the city does not plan to renew it, officials with the organization say.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Capistrano Valley has occupied a room within the Bell Tower for the past 12 years, but according to a Jan. 10 City Council report, the lease agreement will be terminated at the end of June.
And the City Council has been eyeing that space, in the southwest wing of the Bell Tower, to display an extensive collection of artifacts, maps and city-related documents.
Nicole Watson, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Capistrano Valley’s associate executive director, said the organization was first made aware of the displacement on Jan. 12 — and it was not of the club’s own accord. The city had provided the space at no cost, Watson said, along with annual funding of $120,000.
When reached Monday, Rancho Santa Margarita spokesperson Laura Lopez declined to comment.
“After 12 years in partnership with the city of Rancho Santa Margarita and successfully delivering youth development programs to kids and their families in the Rancho Santa Margarita community, this is obviously very disappointing,” Watson said.
The City Council has not yet made a final decision on whether to designate the space within the Bell Tower for the new museum, which would cost about $300,000, but early plans to do so are already underway.
Councilmember Jerry Holloway says a decision about where to place a museum and whether to re-up the Boys & Girls Clubs’ lease are two separate issues.
“Whether or not a museum comes into that space has nothing to do with the Boys & Girls Clubs,” Holloway said. “The conversations about the museum and the Boys & Girls Clubs were completely separate from each other and never tied in. It is just bad timing that that connection was made.”
Rancho Santa Margarita officials have been in search of a proper place to display an extensive collection of historical artifacts, maps and other documents. Some of the items collected date back to the 1920s, around 80 years before the city was even incorporated.
The city has collected historical items and information for several years through efforts by a group of volunteers at the Rancho Santa Margarita Historical Society. Many of the artifacts come from Rancho Santa Margarita’s long-time master planner, Richard Reese, who died in August. After his death, numerous documents about the planning of the city were donated in his honor.
Items the city wishes to display include photos and documents, newspaper clippings, soil samples from the early planning days, iron brands from the original O’Neill family ranch and memorabilia from when the housing tracks were first marketed to the city — just a sliver of what the city has in its possession.
Additionally, city leaders want Reese’s meticulous records and drawings he created while envisioning Rancho Santa Margarita in the late ’90s to be available for public viewing.
A petition from community members asking the City Council to reconsider providing the space to the Boys & Girls Clubs has garnered more than 500 signatures as of Monday evening.
According to Watson, the Boys & Girls Clubs serves over 100 youth each day and more than 250 per year. It serves first through twelfth graders.
The Boys & Girls Clubs will offer all of its services — after-school care, teen programs and non-school day care — until its contract expires in June, Watson said. Until then, the club will be “conducting a thorough review and assessment of the situation,” Watson said.
