by Russell Boniface
Associate Editor

Summary: Michael Grey Jones, AIA, LEED-AP, is the president of AIA Mississippi, a partner at Mississippi-based JBHM Architects, and a strong advocate of AIA members getting involved with their communities. On May 7, he joined an eclectic gathering of people—who shared a common goal—including Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, the Amir of Qatar, Boys & Girls Clubs executives, and Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts. Their shared purpose: a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open a new Boys & Girls Club to replace one destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Jones and his firm designed the new $5 million, 28,000-square-foot facility for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Gulf Coast, located in Pass Christian, Miss., which happens to be Roberts’ hometown. In fact, her mother was instrumental in establishing the original Boys & Girls Club there, and the Good Morning America anchor remains active with the local school district.

“Robin Roberts has been a good friend to the Pass Christian school district and to the Boys & Girls Club,” Jones says. As a ribbon-cutting surprise, Roberts learned that the gymnasium will be named for her family.

Plans began in 2006 to rebuild the facility, which is sited adjacent to a daycare center and K-8 campus. Construction on all the projects cost a combined $36 million. Donations came from as far away as Qatar, with Amir Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani providing more than $100 million in hurricane relief funds, $5 million of which went to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Gulf Coast. In addition, Mississippi Power CEO Anthony Topazi co-chaired a capital campaign that raised $500,000 in community contributions. The Disney Corporation contributed an additional $1 million.

The Pass Christian school district provided land for the facility. The Army Corps of Engineers provided trailers for interim classroom space while the site was cleared and developed.

To date, the Boys & Girls Clubs has raised an additional $13.2 million in donations to build three other facilities on the Gulf Coast.

Community improvement is a win-win
The Boys & Girls Club provides a place for youth to go when they have free time, and the various programs and activities give them constructive ways to channel their energy.

Jones declares the site a “win-win” for both the club and school. “Students can use the Boys & Girls Club gymnasium during the day, and the school district does not need to bus the children to the Boys & Girls Club after school. This saves money on transportation, and the kids would be home by themselves if they didn’t have a place to go after school.”

The facility features a computer room, a game room with a crafts area, a gourmet kitchen, and an art room. Jones says the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Gulf Coast asked for a non-traditional design. “They had the idea that it is a place of organized chaos but wanted the children to be organized while learning and having fun,” he says. “We tried to do that in the design.”

Jones says projects such as the Boys & Girls Club are opportunities for AIA members to show leadership in their communities.

“I think it is very important that our profession show leadership,” Jones says. “We have the talent needed in so many communities. Architects have the skill to envision what a place could be, and the strategy for making it happen. That skill is vital to the progress of communities. If they have an architect in their corner, then the community has an advantage. The Boys & Girls Clubs has been a great project for us.”